


The Ruined Mountains: The Screaming Halls

by CannibalGun



Series: The Ruined Mountains [1]
Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, Fan Characters, LGBTQ Character, Nonbinary Character, Psychological Horror, Romance, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, all fan characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:41:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 39,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15805119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CannibalGun/pseuds/CannibalGun
Summary: For the four years since the end of The Dark War, Tobias, siblings, and his parabatai, Lien, have been living in a secluded mountain Institute to escape Shadowhunter society’s discrimination against half-faeries like Tobias. Lien has her own reasons for running. But when new arrivals and ghosts from the past come to the Institute, they discover a deadly secret has been living right under the place they called home.





	1. Prologue

The Hunt was hot on his trail.

He knew that running away was almost certainly useless, but he had to try. He could hear the thunderous sound of their steeds as he kept desperately running. He had to get away. It had been years already, too long. His child would be born by now. He would already have missed so much.

He tripped over a tree root, but managed to catch himself and scramble to his feet. He just needed to–to get somewhere where there were Shadowhunters. The Hunt avoided them, he’d be safe and, all Shadowhunters knew each other, didn’t they? He could just ask any one of them where Tabitha was, and they’d probably know. The Hunt was behind him, closer now after he’d tripped.

A flash as black as night sped passed him, and a few moments later a tiefling man on an obsidian horse blocked his path. The man’s brows were furrowed.

“What are you doing?” The tiefling said, his mismatched eyes burning into him. “You have everything you’d need in the Hunt! Why run away from that?”

“I just have to,” The elf said. “I’ve already been gone for too long.”

The tiefling snorted. “‘Too long?’ What’s more important to you than the Wild Hunt?” His voice softened slightly. “More important than me?”

“I love you, Lysander,” He said. “But I have to do this.”

Lysander closed his eyes for a moment. The elf tensed up as the sound of more hoof steps grew closer and closer.

“Fine, Arion,” Lysander said after a second. “Do what you want. But you’re a part of the hunt now, you can’t just flee away from it.” He patted his horse on the back of the head as he slowly trotted back to the growing sounds of the Hunt. Arion watched as the tiefling disappeared into the shade of the pine, and oak trees. He smiled slightly.

“Thank you, Lysander.”


	2. Chapter 1: New Arrivals

On their best days, a Shadowhunter was like a well-oiled machine, with no room for error. Lien strove for that perfection every day, particularly now in the first light of morning. She took care to step silently through the underbrush. Behind her was her _parabatai_ , Tobias, and together they were an unstoppable team.

Lien heard a twig crack in the distance and turned to face it, her spear pointed and ready.

“...there’s not anything there, Li,” Tobias said. “It was a squirrel or something.”

“We have to be on our toes–”

“I know, Li.”

“We have to be vigilant _constantly–_ ”

“Li. I know. But that time it was definitely a squirrel.” Tobias yawned. They’d both been up since 5am trying to hunt down a Hellhound. Earlier, they had wounded the demon, but it had broken off into the woods before they could finish the job.

“I’m pretty sure the thing is dead anyway,” Tobias said. “We wounded it pretty bad, ya know? Probably limped off somewhere and died.”

“In that case we’re going to patrol the whole forest. Again. Just in case,” Lien said. “We have to make sure it’s dead, or else.”

“Nobody lives out here except us, Lien. Ain’t any mundies for miles,” Tobias replied. “And we can handle it.”

Lien could point out that Tobias did have a 12 year old brother who hadn’t yet been runed, but that was beside the point, and also would upset Tobias. Tony was safe in the Mountainside Institute anyway.

There was another resounding crack and Tobias’s pointed ears perked.

“Now that one,” he said. “That one’s the Hellhound.”

They took off through the woods on the Hellhound’s trail. At first Lien could only catch glimpses of its black pelt between the trees before the foliage thinned and the whole beast was in view. It was limping from the deep slashes Tobias had left on one of its legs, dark ichor streaming out onto the forest floor. It wasn’t going to last too long.

Finally, the Hellhound burst into a clearing that met with the cliffside. It was cornered. Lien raised her spear and prepared to charge at it when a golden arrow sped out from the trees and struck the Hellhound through the head. It dissolved, and all that was left was a small puddle of ichor where it had been standing.

“What,” said Tobias. And Lien was inclined to agree. She knew nobody at the institute used arrows, so it had to be someone new. She raced into the clearing. “Lien wait–” Tobias tried to grab her arm, but he was too slow. She ran til she was next to what was left of the Hellhound and looked up into the trees.

Sitting up in the branches was a smug, brown-haired boy. He was obviously a Shadowhunter, clad in well-kept gear and with runes visible on his skin. He smirked down at Lien.

“Killstealer!” Lien shouted up at him.

“You snooze you lose,” The boy said with a chuckle. Lien heard Tobias run up behind her.

“The Hellhound’s dead, that’s all that matters,” He said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“We’ve been hunting that for an _hour_ ,” Lien said. “We woke up at _5am_.” But the boy didn’t seem to be listening, and he was looking at Tobias now.

“Heard there was a half-faerie at this institute.” He hopped down from the tree, making a fair amount of noise. “Didn’t expect to meet it on the first day, though.”

“You’re not even wearing silence runes?” Lien grabbed him by the shoulder. “Also if you ever talk to my _parabatai_ like that again I will gut you.”

“Could report threats like that to my parents,” He said. “Since they’re gonna be running the Institute now.” He smirked. “I’m David Hawkcross.”

Tobias stepped forward.

“Well, I’m Tobias Ashkey,” He said. “And this is Lien. It’s nice to meet you.”

“No it isn’t,” Lien said. “It’s not nice to meet you, killstealer.”

“Right back at ya,” David said. “Get out of my way. I have important shit to do back at the Institute.” He climbed back up the tree and disappeared into the canopy. Tobias and Lien stood for a second.

“Think we can get home before he does?” Tobias said.

“Oh absolutely,” Lien replied. “Come on.”

 

* * *

 

“Tobe, you can’t act like that didn’t bother you too,” Lien called from the other side of the door. Tobias was inside taking off his gear and putting on his binder. They had gotten home before David, but not before his parents. Lien had caught a glimpse of them talking with Tabi in the hallway, but had rushed past too quickly to really get a look at them.

“Eh, I’m used to it at this point.”

“Yeah but still,” Lien said. “This guy’s gonna be living with us, and–”

“Lien it’s fine. It’s really fine, okay?” Tobias said. “I’ve had worse shit said to me.” Ever since the Cold Peace was put in place several years ago, those with faerie blood had it bad. The only reason Tobias hadn’t been exiled for his heritage was because Lien had already said they were going to be _parabatai_ , a platonic bonded pair that Shadowhunters took for life, and you can’t separate that.

The Mountainside Institute had been the perfect home for the four of them–Lien, Tobias, Tobias’s younger brother, Tony, and older sister, Tabi. No other Shadowhunters to discriminate against Tobias for being half-faerie, or trans, or gay. And nobody Lien had to come out to, either. Nobody who’d known her only as her deadname.

But a few months ago, Kasey Goldencoat had shown up, and now the Hawkcrosses–the place that had been her home was full of strangers, people she couldn’t trust. Behind her, Lien heard the click of the door opening.

“Okay,” Tobias said, stepping out. “Let’s go talk to the Hawkcrosses. Might as well get this over with.”

 

* * *

 

The Hawkcrosses did not appear impressed with the stonework in the great hall. Whoever built the Mountainside Institute wasn’t very neat, and while the hall was vast, with a high ceiling and rudimentary columns, the stone was rough and polygonal rather than polished and rounded.

The older male Hawkcross, whom Lien guessed was David’s father, on account of they looked exactly the fucking same except one had a mustache, was gazing up at the ceiling with a bemused expression, while the lady who Lien presumed was his wife seemed to be displeased to even be here, and kept smoothing down her long, blonde hair. David Killstealer Hawkcross stood between them, wearing the world’s most annoying smirk, and kept glancing at Tobias, who didn’t really appear to care.

“It’s our honor to welcome you here,” Tabi said gently. She stood beside Tobias, her hair cropped short, and if Lien hadn’t known Tabi all her life, she wouldn’t have noticed the shake in Tabi’s voice. Tony was hiding behind her, and Lien shot David a look that she hoped communicated the sentiment ‘If you pick on my _parabatai_ ’s little brother I will break your goddamn neck’. “I’m Tabitha Ashkey, and I’ve been running this institute for the past few years. However, we appreciate your experienced presence here, Mr and Mrs. Hawkcross.”

“You can call me Boyd,” The man who appeared to be David’s father said. “My wife’s given name is Samantha, and this is our son, David.” David gave awkward wave.

“We’ve met,” Lien muttered.

“Excuse me?” Boyd said.

“Nothing.” Lien expected him to reply with something snippy, but before he could, there was the loud rattle of a door opening and someone speeding in.

“Sorry, sorry,” Kasey exclaimed as she raced to join the others, her blonde hair gathered into an untidy ponytail. She settled down beside Lien and shot her a grin, which Lien did not return. “Sorry, I’m late. I was uhhhh really wrapped up in this book and–”

“Thanks for joining us, Kasey.” Tabi turned back toward the Hawkcrosses. “This is Kasey Goldencoat. She’s another new arrival.”

“A pleasure to meet you!” Kasey said. “I’m sure we’ll get along swell.” She was smiling, her green eyes bright. She seemed genuinely happy to meet the Hawkcrosses, which Lien was pretty sure was impossible.

Tobias and Lien introduced themselves without much fanfare, other than Lien stating emphatically that Tobias was her _parabatai._

But “It’s nice to meet you, Lien,” Was all that Boyd said. He didn’t even look at Tobias. Thankfully, before too long, Tabi spoke up again.

“You must have had a long day traveling,” She said. “How about I show you to your rooms?”

“That’d be appreciated,” Boyd said, and the family followed Tabi out of the hall, David looking back at Tobias over his shoulder.

“Hope you can keep up with me, half-breed,” He said before shutting the door behind him. The room was quiet for a few seconds.

“Well. They suck,” Tobias said.

“Agreed,” Lien said. “Especially David. Killstealer.”

“They didn’t seem _so_ bad,” Kasey chirped. “It’s nice to have some new faces here!”

“Shut up, Kasey,” Lien said.


	3. Chapter 2: Settling In

Tobias had found Tabi in the library after she showed the Hawkcrosses to their rooms. She was preoccupying herself by organizing and reorganizing the book on the grand shelves. Tobias had never asked why she did it, but it seemed to calm her.

He waltzed up next to her as she was putting a pretty sizable book back on the shelf and cleared his throat. “Hey, so, uh. Whose idea was it to bring these guys in?”

“I don’t have any control over who comes and goes, Tobias,” Tabi said. “Besides, they actually are here on business.”

“Such as?”

“There’s been some increase of werewolf activity.” Tabi turned to Tobias. She seemed to have finished organizing that specific shelf. “Once that’s all figured out, they’ll be leaving.”

Tabi started walking away from the shelf and stretched her arms.

“But couldn’t they send some Shadowhunters that aren’t like…” Tobias paused for a second. “Assholes?”

“Tobias.” Tabi sighed.

“Big Boy or whatever the dad’s name was wouldn’t even look at me, Tabi,” Tobias said. “I’m used to people treating me terrible or calling me names or whatever, like David. But I’m not used to being treated like _I don’t even exist_.”

Tabi sighed and rubbed her temples. “I don’t know what to say, Toby. I really don’t. You’re just going to have to live with them. We all have to do things we don’t want to.”

“‘The Law is Hard, But It Is The Law’ bullshit?”

“Exactly. Just...try to ignore them.” Tabi said. “Maybe it’ll be good for Tony to see some new people at least.”

Tobias hesitantly nodded. Tony hadn’t always been such a shy kid. He was only 8 years old when the Dark War tore apart the Shadowhunter world. Sebastian Morgenstern had turned their parents into The Endarkened, and they were killed during the battle in Alicante, the Shadowhunter capital. Tabi had been able to get Tobias and Tony away before they were hurt during it, but...moving around so much, and the circumstances seemed to have affected Tony. Now the 12 year old boy rarely talked to anyone.

Tobias, on the other hand, had been far more affected by the aftermath of the Dark War than the war itself. When the Cold Peace set into place disallowing Faeries from doing just about _anything_ for helping Sebastian, half-faerie Shadowhunters, who were already distrusted, even more discriminated against. Tobias had gotten around most of it simply by the fact that Lien was his _parabatai_. He honestly owed a lot to her.

“Tony meeting new people might be the only good thing about this arrangement,” Tobias finally said. Another thought crept into Tobias’s head. “Also, uh, when’s the next time we could head down to town do you think?”

“Oh, are you running low?” Tabi asked.

“Yeah, we don’t gotta do it right now or anything. Probably once everything settles down?”

“Sure. Yeah, Toby.” Tabi sighed.

Tobias smiled and gently punched her shoulder. “Thanks sis. You’re the best.”

“That is what you keep saying.” A ghost of a smile appeared on Tabi’s face. Tobias was content with that and started his way out of the library.

* * *

 The next morning, Tobias was woken up by Lien. Which was odd, since Lien stayed up late patrolling the outside of the Institute and made _absolutely sure_ that she got exactly 8 hours of sleep. Tobias rolled to his side and looked up at Lien.

“Li, just yesterday you were complaining about waking up at 5 am, and now it’s...what?” Tobias squinted his eyes at the clock on the far wall. “6? I think that’s a 6?”

“David Killstealer Hawkcross wants to train,” Lien stated. “And I think it’s our job to upstage the prick.”

“You really gotta get over the kill steal thing.” Tobias yawned. “I’m sure there will be more demons to kill steal from him in the future. Especially if he keeps up his habit of not wearing silence runes.” Tobias hopped out of bed and stretched his arms over his head. “Now, leave while I get ready.”

“Don’t bind this time,” Lien said walking towards the door.

“I’m not _not_ gonna bind around a stranger. Who is also an asshole.”

“You’re gonna hurt your ribs. And if I’m not around, David might try to draw a healing rune and you know that won’t go well.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tobias said shooing Lien out the door. “Now go on, go. I’ll see you and David in the training hall.”

* * *

 Tobias wore his binder. It was a bad decision. Other than a few looks from Lien that just screamed ‘are you serious,’ Tobias blew off Lien’s warning, but not even a few minutes into the training his chest was already aching and making it a little hard to breath. It was fine though. He was fine. It was better than David having to see him without it.

In fact David didn’t even seem to realize that it _was_ a binder that was sticking out behind Tobias’s tank top. As Tobias first entered the hall he heard David mumble something about a double tank top, but didn’t say anymore. Whether he was mocking Tobias or legit just didn’t know, Tobias honest to god couldn’t tell.

Through their warm-ups, Tobias could very easily deduce that David was competitive. Which just continued to add him more asshole points in Tobias’s mind. Anytime David would make some kinda sneer or remark on their form or how quick they were doing the exercise Lien would snap something threatening back at David (which usually ended up with her saying she would gut him) and Tobias would have to break it up. Tobias thought this had been going on for hours, but when he glanced up at the clock it had only been a half-hour.

“I thought faeries were supposed to be nimble?” David said, remarking on Tobias’s most recent fall from the tightropes positioned farther up the room. His words didn’t actually seem to have malicious intent this time, however. It was more like an observation that he just happened to say out loud.

“Well,” Tobias responded after moving his shoulders. “I thought hawks were supposed to have wings, but I don’t see any sprouting out of your back.”

David just shrugged and proceeded to climb the ladder that led to one of the higher tightropes. At this point they were just practicing their balance, but eventually they would start to work on their jumps and landings. Tobias had just been very out of it and having trouble concentrating that day.

Lien and him stood at the bottom of the room, craning their necks up to see David attempt this. Considering David had neglected putting on most of his runes for the whole training session, Tobias had very little faith that he would make it across.

“5 dollars that he’s gonna fall,” Tobias said to Lien.

“I’m not gonna take that bet,” Lien replied. “I’m not gonna lose 5 dollars.”

David started out pretty decently on the tightrope Tobias had to admit. He seemed very confident in his ability, and from what Tobias could see on the ground, he barely hesitated on every step. For someone with no runes on it was fairly impressive.

David yelled down to the ground. “You see? I already made it farther than Tobias!”

And Tobias’s compliment dissolved away in his mind. Even if David was the most talented Shadowhunter in the world, that wouldn’t cover up his gaping flaw of being a twat.

The door to the Training Room opened and Boyd walked in, followed by Tabi.

“And this is the Training Room, sir–” Tabi began.

“David!” Boyd voice resonated throughout the room and as it met David on the tightrope, he promptly fell. His fall was cushioned by the mats placed on the floor, but it would leave few bruises at least. It took him a few second to get back on his feet and meet his father’s gaze.

“Y-yeah, dad?” David’s whole demeanor seemed to change in a second. He wasn’t a cocky, smirky, asshole anymore. Just…more like a kid that was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I told you not to associate with the faerie, David.” Boyd said.

“Ah, so I finally get acknowledged,” Tobias said sarcastically. Boyd either didn’t hear or didn’t care. Either was a possibility.

David scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah well...I just invited Lien to train. She just brought along Tobias so…”

Boyd squinted his eyes at David but didn’t press the topic any further. He put a hand on David’s shoulder and said something in a low voice. Tobias wasn’t able to catch all of it but it ended with something along the lines of “–I’m glad to see you with a girl your age.”

Tobias didn’t have much time to dwell on that before Lien whispered next to them.

“I don’t normally say this but...I think that’s enough training for today, huh?”

“Yeah.” Tobias glanced over at David. Boyd had started moving away from him, but David still looked ashamed and embarrassed.

He cleared his mind of those thoughts and turned back to Lien. “Also, you owe me 5 dollars.”

“What?”

“David. He fell. So pay up, Li.”

“I never agreed to that bet, Tobes!”

Tobias quietly walked towards the other exit to the training room. He didn’t want to accidentally run into Boyd. “Ah? What’s that? I think you’re breaking up I can’t hear you.”

“THIS IS A FACE TO FACE CONVERSATION, TOBES.”

* * *

 Tobias didn’t have much else to do in that day after training. His main goal was just to avoid the Hawkcrosses for as long as possible. He sure didn’t feel calm in his own home, having to avoid certain hallways because he heard one voice or another of the Hawkcrosses.

“Tobias, Tobias!” A high voice squealed behind him. He turned his head around and saw his little brother, Tony running up to him. Tobias couldn’t remember the last time Tony had sounded that excited.

“Uh, what’s up, Tony?” Tobias said. He hadn’t realized how tall Tony had gotten. He was only a few inches shorter than Tobias, and probably in a few years Tony would be towering over him. It wasn’t very hard to beat five-foot-one though, Tobias supposed.

“Mr. Boyd Hawkcross said that I can get runed!” Tony flashed a smile up at Tobias.

“O-oh, you don’t say?” Tobias said, trying and failing to keep his voice from shaking.

Tony nodded. “Yeah, he said that I already should’ve been runed already. Why haven’t you or Tabi given them to me yet?”

“Uh, well you see…” Tobias rubbed the back of their neck. There was a reason as to why they hadn’t. Tabi and Tobias didn’t want to worry about Tony. He’d already been affected by the Dark War, and they were both unsure as to if Tony could handle being a Shadowhunter. It’s not that they didn’t have faith in their little brother it’s just...they were worried is all. Tobias had already lost his parents, and had never met his faerie father, for that matter. He didn’t want to lose another family member, and especially not Tony.

Tobias shook his head. “Oh wow look at the time, little bro.” Tobias pointed at the invisible watch on his wrist. “Lien’ll probably be mad if I skip our afternoon patrol, or whatever. I should get a move on. C-congratz on the rune...thing.”

He quickly turned on his tail and ran. He really didn’t like abandoning his brother in the middle of the hallway but, hey. Confrontation sucks and Tobias didn’t want to have to admit his worries to his little brother. Maybe he could actually convince Lien to take him on patrol or something. Knowing her she’d be more than willing since their training session was cut short that day.


	4. Chapter 3: Arion

“Thank you for suggesting this patrol,” Lien said as she stalked down the halls of the institute, Tobias at her side. “I’m sick of being in here with all these people I don’t know.”

“Yeah,” Tobias replied. “Shit’s stressful.” Talking with people or even being around them made Lien feel drained, but she never felt that way around Tobias or even the rest of the Ashkeys. They were family.

And also she didn’t have to worry about passing around them, either, since they already knew. She kept wanting to avoid talking around the Hawkcrosses and even Kasey. She was scared she’d slip up and they’d realize she wasn’t cis, and she couldn’t bear the thought of that.

As if summoned by the thought of that, Kasey popped out of a room and into the hallway.

“Oh hey,” She said. She was peeling an orange. “You going on a patrol?”

“You’re not invited,” Lien said, trying not to look at her. “It’s a _parabatai-only_ excursion.”   
“Is that an actual like, official thing?” Kasey said, trailing down the hall after them. She dropped her orange peel on the ground, like a heathen. “I don’t know too much about parabatai stuff, what’s it like? I always wanted one but I just turned 19 so I’m too old now and–”

“Goldencoat,” Lien said. “Can you please get off our case?”

“Oh?” Lien wasn’t facing Kasey, but she could practically hear the grin in her voice. “I think you mean I should get off your case-y.”

Tobias laughed at that, and Lien shot him a look. It was kind of a relief to see him laughing, though. He’d been on edge since the Hawkcrosses arrived.

“Haha,” Lien said. “Very funny, Kasey. But unless you can walk all the way back to your room and get your gear on by the time we leave the institute, you’re out of luck.”

“Is that a challenge?” Kasey put about half of the orange in her mouth at once. “I never back down from a challenge,” She said, chewing her orange.

“Fine. Yes. Go back now and maybe you’ll have a chance.”

Kasey’s eyes lit up and she nodded, and then ran back down the hall. Lien waited until she was out of earshot.

“C’mon Tobes, we gotta book it,” She said. She started walking faster, not quite running so as not to leave Tobias behind immediately.

“I don’t see why you can’t give her a chance,” Tobias said, but he was already starting to run as well. “She seems harmless.”

“I’m allergic to puns,” Lien said. “You know that, Tobes.”

* * *

 The forest, at least, was fairly quiet. What passed for quiet in a forest, at least. A few times, some serious demons had shown up, and the forest had gone eerily still around them, the animals instinctually sensing something was wrong and hiding from view. Not today, though. The late summer air was warm, but not uncomfortable. Lien knew fall was coming soon, and she was looking forward to it.

Even if the Hawkcrosses were living in the Institute, she at least had the forest to herself. Mostly. She knew it better than anyone else–except maybe Tobias, and that was why she noticed something odd about the trees.

“Hey.” She softly elbowed Tobias. “The leaves over there. They’re changing way too early. It’s not even September yet.”

“Hmm,” Tobias replied. “I suppose the trees over there could be dying or something?”

“I don’t think so. None of the branches look like they’re falling off.”

“I don’t know.” Tobias gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Maybe it’s just a thing that happens? Sometimes things in nature just happen.”

Lien rolled her eyes and started walking toward the strange trees.

“What, you don’t trust me?” Tobias called after her, but after a moment, he followed her. “I’m half-faerie! Nature loves me!” A low hanging branch, which Lien had pushed aside, smacked him in the face.

“Whoops,” She said. “Sorry.”

As they proceeded into the circle of maple of trees, Lien saw something that stopped her cold.

A thin, dark-skinned man was sitting under the shade of the trees, with his back turned. His hair was a strikingly light color, and Lien noticed his ears, which were pointed, even more so than Tobias’s. He was a faerie.

So he could get in serious trouble for being here–so she and Tobias could get in serious trouble for interacting with him if David fucking Hawkcross was lurking in the trees and saw them. But she couldn’t just leave this dude here? She looked over to Tobias to see what he was doing, but he just looked back at her, seemingly just as confused. She cleared her throat.

“H-hey,” Lien said. She raised her spear a little, even though she felt bad threatening him. “What are you doing here? This is Shadowhunter territory!”

The man whipped round, and Lien took a step back. The faerie man’s eyes were two different colors; one of them was black with a white pupil, but the other...the other was the same exact pale gold as Tobias’s. Even his facial features were a little similar. Lien took another step back.

“Shit,” Tobias said.

“O-oh good!” The faerie man stammered out, trying to get to his feet. He was shaking like a leaf. “There _are_ Shadowhunters here, I wasn’t–wasn’t sure–” He reached out a hand toward Lien and she raised her spear.

“Hey!” She said. “You aren’t supposed to be here! Y’know, the Cold Peace and all!”

“The what?” He said.

“You definitely should know! What, have you been under a rock the past couple years?”

“I mean.” He smiled. “I’ve been in the Hunt. Which is basically the same thing. Listen do you know–”

“I really can’t just let you be here, you know!” Lien interjected. Who knows what the fucking Hawkcrosses would do? They already didn’t like Tobias. If they found out about this– “You need to leave.”

“Lien,” Tobias said softly behind her. “He isn’t hurting anyone.”

“Listen, I know,” the man was talking as quickly as he could. “Listen, can you just–do you know Tabitha? Tabitha Ashkey.” Tobias looked like he’d been slapped.

“My sister?”

“Tabitha didn’t have any siblings.”

Lien thought for a few seconds before it finally clicked what the faerie meant.

“...so my mother, then?” Tobias said. His voice was quiet. The faerie man blinked for a second before he seemed to put the pieces together too.

“Y-your mother?” He started walking toward them again, but this time Lien didn’t say anything. “So that means–I knew she was with child but–” He shook his head. “Where is she?”

“...she died. She died years ago.” Tobias closed his eyes. “In the Dark War. I’m sorry.” The man stopped in his tracks and just stared. His mismatched eyes darted back and forth, before he put a hand over his face. Lien realized he might be trying not to cry. In front of his estranged son, and also his sons _parabatai_ who was still pointing a spear at him.

“He has to go,” Lien whispered to Tobias. The man could probably hear it, but she had to say it. “We're going to get in serious trouble.”

“We’re related, Lien,” Tobias said, his voice strained. “And I've never met him and–and my parents are dead. Please.”

Lien sighed.

“You know, if it were any other person on earth asking me to hide a faerie fugitive in my home turf right after the world’s strictest assholes moved in on the territory I'd say no.” She paused. “So you are damn lucky you're my _parabatai._ ”

Tobias’s eyes lit up and he breathed out a sigh of relief. The faerie man looked up at them, seeming relieved as well.

“Lien, thank you so much, I don't know how I could repay you–”

“You literally don't have to, you're my _parabatai_ .” Lien turned to face the faerie man. “So um. What _is_ your name?”

“Arion,” He said.

“Okay so, Arion–”

“C-can I get your names first?” Arion said. “I-I have a son and I don't even know what his name is.”

“I'm Tobias,” Tobias said quickly. He was _happy,_ Lien realized. It had been a really long time since she'd seen him this happy. So maybe keeping a rogue faerie in secret was worth it. “And she's Lien, my _parabatai_ –do you even know what a _parabatai_ is? I–”

“Okay we need to figure out a game plan pretty quick,” Lien interjected. She didn't wanna interrupt this reunion, but. “Cause if the Hawkcrosses find out we are royally screwed.”

“We could like. Put him in that like little like pit thing Tony stumbled into,” Tobias said. “And we don't have to worry about him getting in there because we told him there were bears.” Arion’s eyes widened. “There's–there’s not _actually_ any bears, don't worry.”

“No, no it's just,” Arion paused. “Who's Tony?”

“My little brother,” Tobias answered. “He's a good kid but you probably shouldn't meet him, I don't think he can keep a secret–”

“Your _little_ brother?” Arion’s brow was furrowed. “Tabitha said she was going to leave her husband…”

Tobias just kinda stared at him a second before he shrugged his shoulders. “Welp,” was all he said.

“Listen okay,” Lien said, more to cover the awkward silence than anything. “So we put your dad in the Bear Hole and like check up on him every few days? And you can like catch up with him when you check up does that sound good? And also we kill David with a rock? Does that sound good? I'm glad we all agree.”

“We can't kill David with a rock,” Tobias added. “His brain would get everywhere and then we'd have to clean it up, and I don't wanna clean”

“Pfft, like he actually has a brain in there.”

“Um,” Arion said. “Who’s David?”

“You literally don't need to worry about him,” Tobias replied. “He's just some jerk. You will never meet him.” Tobias walked in front of Lien. “Okay, Arion, Bear Hole.”

He nudged Arion in the general direction of the Bear Hole, which was a sight to see as Tobias was nearly a foot shorter than his father.

Lien waited impatiently for Tobias to return so she could continue the patrol, and spent the rest of it trying not to think about what a spectacularly bad idea this was.

* * *

 When they arrived back at the institute, the sun was starting to set, and Lien just wanted to have a lie down and maybe sleep early so she could get up before the Hawkcrosses. But as soon as they passed the doors of the institute, who was standing in the foyer but David fucking Hawkcross.

He was leaning against a pillar, shooting them a smug grin with his arms crossed.

“Hey, losers,” he said. “I'm sure you're very grateful that I stayed out of the forest today. Figured I'd give you freaks a chance to kill demons without me getting in the way.”

“David,” Tobias said. “Have you been waiting here the whole time?”

“What? No!” David blinked, and then paused. “I gotta go. Train. And stuff.”

David skittered down the hall. Lien looked at Tobias.

“You got him to shut up,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Teach me your ways.”

“Sorry Li, I don't know what you mean!”

“Oh come on!”

The two kept talking as they made their way down the institute halls, back to their rooms.


	5. Chapter 4: A Very Awkward Car Ride

Tobias was back in the training room. He rubbed his back. He’d just unceremoniously (for the third time) fallen from the highest tightrope. Tobias wanted to prove to David fucking Hawkcross that he could actually do it.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Goddammit now even he was calling him David fucking Hawkcross. He needed to stop listening to Lien. She was still stuck on David stealing her kill as well.

He stood back up on his feet and stretched. He was about to climb the ladder for another try when the door to the training hall opened up. Tabi came through holding a small piece of paper in her hand.

“Tobias, I’m heading down to the town. I gotta grab some groceries and junk for the Hawkcrosses, and I think it would be a good time to grab your T while I’m down there,” She said. Tobias gave one more glance up at the tightrope and then walked over to Tabi.

“Oh yeah sure. Can you give me like a second to change out of my training clothes?” He said cracking his fingers.

“Of course,” Tabi looked extremely exhausted and tired. “Also, David is coming with us.”

“What?” Tobias asked. “Why?”

“He asked and I said yes,” she said. They’d walked out of the training room at this point. “Besides, they are our guests Toby. We need to be at least _a little_ hospitable to them.”

“That’s debatable.”

“Tobias,” Tabi’s voice was firm. Then she sighed. “Maybe if you got to know him you’d actually get along.”

“Again, that’s debatable.”

“Just go get ready, Tobias.”

* * *

 Tobias quickly went back to his room and changed into their normal everyday clothes. His binder, a tanktop, and some shorts. People could very easily see hi binder under his tanktop but Tobias really didn’t care. Shadowhunters already hated him, and he was rarely around mundies, so what did he really care?

As he went into the main hall, he saw David and Tabi were already there. David was wearing some dumb stupid wolf shirt with three wolves howling at a moon. It wasn’t what Tobias had expected David to be wearing since...it was David. Though Tobias didn’t really know what he was expecting from this guy.

“Took you long enough,” David said, pushing off the wall he was trying to lean against nonchalantly and failing.

Tobias shrugged. “My binder got stuck.”

David looked confused and was about to open his mouth when Tabi spoke before him. “Let’s start heading out now. It’s a several hour drive down to the town.”

Tobias nodded and started out the door. David seemed about to say something again, but thought better of it for once in his life and didn’t say anything.

It was gonna be a really long drive if this is what they’re gonna be like. Tobias had half been hoping to just ride down with his sister, where they could talk about dumb things that happened in the Institute and just bond. As much as Tobias wanted to trash talk David while he was sitting in the back seat, Tabi probably wouldn’t be super appreciative of that.

They all filed into the old beat up Jeep car that the institute had and started the journey down the mountain. After several minutes of tense silence, not even music coming from the radio, Tabi broke it. “Tobias, we’re probably going to get your T first from Jeremiah, and then I’m gonna get groceries while you show David around.”

“Why do I gotta show him around?” Tobias said.

“Because I said so,” Tabi said.

David in the back seat raised his hand. “Uh, question. Why is Tobias getting a special kind of tea? Isn’t there some at the Institute?”

“Oh, my god,” Tobias sighed. “You’re an idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot!” David yelped. “I just don’t understand.

“That’s the same as being an idiot. Or ignorant. One of the two. Or both” Tobias rested his head against the window and watched the forest fly by. From the side mirror he could see David had his arms crossed and he looked pissed off. Good.

Tabi sighed next to him. “Okay, okay fine. Fine. No more talking. No more talking until we make it to Jeremiah’s okay?”

“Who is Jeremiah?” David asked.

“They’re the warlock in charge of this area,” Tobias answered. “Your parents didn’t even tell you that?”

“Why would they?”

“Probably cause they think you’re an idiot too,” Tobias said. He admitted that that probably crossed a line. It seemed to sting David a little bit too, as he finally shut up. Tobias _actually_ felt a little bit of guilt for saying it. He was about to apologize when Tabi shot him a glance for a second. He got the message. He wouldn’t talk for the rest of the trip. No one did.

It was very awkward.

* * *

 After what felt like a millenia in a car, walking on the ground felt good. Tobias cracked his back, and stretched his legs. David hopped out of the car and landed awkwardly on one side before almost falling over. Tobias couldn’t help but smile. David glared back at him, which just made Tobias smile more.

“Come on you two,” Tabi said, leading them out of the parking lot. Jeremiah lived a little bit away from the town. Being a warlock got you a lot of money, and they lived in a fashionable minimalist house. There was a pool outside that Tobias had never actually seen Jeremiah swim in.

Tobias glanced back at David who just seemed confused by the whole situation. David seemed to be confused most of the time. They came up to the front door, Tabi pushed the doorbell, and waited patiently for Jeremiah to open the door. The doors were transparent so they saw Jeremiah coming even before they opened the door.

“Oh, Tobias, Tabitha, I’m assuming you’re here for the usual?” Jeremiah looked almost like a normal blonde nonbinary person with killer purple eyeshadow, except for the two feathered wings protruding from their back. At the moment they were green, but they could be anything from red to black depending on their mood. Tobias had never seen it any color than green though, and he just took Jeremiah’s word that they changed color.

Jeremiah looked in David’s direction. “And I don’t think I’ve met this one.” They said.

“I-I’m David Hawkcross,” David said, trying to sound confident. “My parents are Boyd and Samantha Hawkcross.”

Jeremiah nodded. “Now, come on in, there’s no need for you to be standing outside.” They motioned for everyone to enter and they all did just that. Tobias took a seat while David and Tabi stood. Tobias was used to Tabi standing, but the way David was standing made it seem like he didn’t wanna mess up a single thing in the perfectly white room.

“I’ll be right back with your testosterone, Tobias,” Jeremiah circled around out of the room and through another door.

“Why do you need testosterone? And why are you calling it tea?” David said once Jeremiah closed the door behind them.

“David, do you understand what being trans means?” Tobias finally said. He was honestly a little bit curious about how big of an idiot David was.

“I mean...no,” David admitted. “But my parents told me you’re that, and I guess that’s...not good or something?”

Tobias rubbed his temples. This guy. This fucking guy.

“Jeremiah is a warlock that studies human bodies,” Tabi said seeming to ignore their conversation. “Tobias comes to them to get testosterone without having to go to the mundie doctors, and in return Jeremiah learns more about human bodies.”

“Why are they interested in human bodies?” David asked.

“I don’t know, sometimes you just have interests,” Tobias said. “Some people have an interest in human bodies, and some people have an interest in dumb wolf shirts.”

David was about to retort, when Jeremiah came back into the room carrying a small box, and handed it to Tobias. Jeremiah then turned to Tabi. “Tabitha, I’m assuming you’ll be paying later this month?”

Tabitha nodded. “Of course, you’ll get your money. Thank you again, Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah puffed their wings out and smiled. “Of course. The Ashkeys are like family to me.” Tobias stood back up and started towards the exit. He said a quick ‘thanks’ and then they all headed out.

David’s arms were crossed when they got back to the car. He still looked very confused, like he was trying to figure out and process all the words that had been said.

“Look, David,” Tobias said. “If you really don’t know what trans means, and would like to know, I’ll tell you. No snark, no sarcasm, nothing.”

David shook his head. “It’s fine,” was all he said before he got back into the Jeep. Tobias gave Tabi a look that he hoped said ‘I tried’ and Tabi shot him a look back that said ‘try harder.’ Tobias sighed and climbed back into the car. It was a short drive to the actual town, and the sun was only slightly reaching its peak in the sky when they arrived.

Tobias wondered if he’d be able to visit Arion today. Hopefully he was doing okay out in the woods by himself. He was a faerie and he was in nature. So he’d be fine. Probably.

* * *

 Tabi found a parking spot in the town, and told Tobias to show David around. After giving that command, she just walked off. Tobias guessed that even she needed some space from David, or their bickering. How nice of Tabi to drop that role onto Tobias instead.

The town was relatively small and didn’t have a whole lot of things to do. There were trinket shops, and weird candy stores, but nothing super exciting. David still seemed slightly interested in all the sights at least. Or was at least good at acting like he cared.

“Where are you even from?” Tobias asked, after passing some clothing store that sold things only from the 80s.

“Milwaukee, it’s in Wisconsin,” David said. Tobias didn’t know the city exactly but he expected that they had more there than they had in this small dinky town.

“There an institute up there,” David continued. “My dad ran it for a long time up until the Inquisitor and Consul told us to come here.” Tobias just nodded. For once, David wasn’t being stupid or anything like that. It was actually kinda nice.

Tobias turned toward David. “Here, I’ll lead you to a coffee shop–”

“I’m allergic to caffeine,” David interrupted.

“You don’t have to buy coffee there. There are other drinks. We can go there and just talk.”

David seemed to think it over for a second and then nodded. Tobias actually felt pleased that David agreed. He couldn’t quite tell why.

Thankfully, the coffee shop wasn’t too far away from the weird 80s clothes shop. After a few minutes, they were already inside and had been seated. Tobias ordered a regular coffee, and David just got a glass of milk, which made the waitress lift her eyebrow for a second, although she didn’t say anything.

“So, why bring me here?” David asked once the waitress had gone.

“Eh, Tabi and I come here every time we come down to town. Also it’s run by the local werewolf pack, so you can tell your parents where the werewolves operate,” Tobias said strumming his fingers on the table. He didn’t understand why he was being anxious. This was dumb, he was just being dumb.

David looked out the window. “I like it here, to be honest. I still like the city, but...I don’t know, nothing but trees is nice too, I guess.” He turned back to Tobias. “Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you, and please don’t call me an idiot, but what is with your tattoo?”

“What? You admiring my arms, David?”

“NO. It’s just! It covers your whole right arm! It’s very obvious,” David defended. Tobias put up his right arm. When he was 14 he’d gotten it. He’d used glamours to disguise his identity as a minor and had gotten it without Tabi’s permission. She definitely yelled at him for several hours after she found out.

David continued. “It’s another thing my parents said about you that I shouldn’t like. Runes are what make us special from the Downworlders, but your tattoo...it doesn’t have a purpose,”

“It looks cool,” Tobias shrugged. “Besides, everyone already hates me for being half-faerie, what’s getting a tattoo? They already consider me less of a Shadowhunter.”

“I don’t–” David interrupted himself this time. He bit down on his own tongue. He leaned back in his chair. Tobias cocked his head but didn’t say anything back.

“Anyway, what’s with your parents trying to hook you up with Lien?” Tobias asked.

“What?” David snapped his head to Tobias.

“In training, your dad said like ‘good to see you with a girl’ or something. Because let me just say, that as Lien’s _parabatai,_ I do not approve,”

“I-I don’t like Lien!” David snapped. “I don’t wanna talk about that.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t, okay,”

“So what? Is your parents forcing you into it?” Tobias asked. He knew he probably shouldn’t be prodding David like this, especially since they’d just started actually talking without any snark. “Because if that’s it, that’s real shitty and you don’t gotta listen to them.”

David was silent for a moment. “My parents know what’s best for me,” He stood up from his chair. “And they were right, that I shouldn’t be talking to you.” He started to walk out of the coffee shop.

“Good luck trying to get back to the car by yourself, asshole,” Tobias called to him. Just then the waitress came back with the coffee and David’s dumb glass of milk. Tobias shook his head, and took out a few dollars for the waitress. “I’m sorry, you can just throw those out. Sorry for the trouble.”

As Tobias exited the shop, David was just standing outside. “Don’t know your way back after all, huh?” David didn’t say anything. “I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes,’”

Tobias motioned for David to follow him and they made it back to the car in complete silence, when they got into the car it was silent, and when Tabi got back with all the groceries and drove them back up the mountain it was completely quiet.

The first voice Tobias heard since the drive back up was Kasey’s.

“Hey, guys! How did everything go?” She said in her chipper voice.

David didn’t respond to her and just walked straight passed her, bumping into her shoulder. To Tobias, it seemed like David did it on purpose but he wasn’t entirely sure.

“What happened to him?” Kasey asked Tobias.

“Shit mood,” Tobias replied. “But ya know, I did learn that he really liked coffee–”

“Tobias, no.” Tabi came in behind him through the doors of the institute. “He’s allergic to caffeine.”

“I know, it could be a fun prank though.” Tobias smiled at his sister.

She wasn’t smiling. “Did you even try–”

“Oh, I sure did try,” Tobias whirled on Tabi. “It’s Mr. Asshole’s fault that everything went to shit. I just asked him a few questions about his deal with Lien and he got all pissed at me! It was going well before that, Tabi.”

Tabi sighed. “Fine, fine. Just help me bring the groceries in.”

* * *

 Tobias helped bring the groceries in, which the Hawkcrosses scrutinized, chiding Tabi about forgetting a singular item, and by the time that whole ordeal was over the sun had already set. He decided he didn’t have time to visit Arion today, and either way he was exhausted.

He’d really thought David and him had started to bond. At least a little bit. Tobias still didn’t exactly know what he did wrong. He really didn’t wanna think about it anymore, though. He thumped down onto his bed and just closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. His brain insisted on showing him David saying _And they were right, that I shouldn’t be talking to you,_ over and over again though.


	6. Chapter 5: The Dahaks

“Can we just not take them?” Lien said to Tobias through the door. “Can we just go without them?”

“Li, no,” Tobias said sternly. “There’s at least three. We need more than two people to take them.”

“Then bring Tabi or something! I don’t trust Kasey and I trust David even less!”

“She has to protect Tony!” Tobias shouted. Lien shut up at that. She didn’t like to think about what a Dahak demon could do an un-runed twelve year old. Tobias was right, and of course he was.

She sat down on the other side of the door, feeling ashamed. “What about David’s parents? They must be better Shadowhunters than him.”

“No,” Tobias snapped back quickly. “I don’t trust them either. Look, you’re a great Shadowhunter, and you’ve got the three of us as backup, it’ll be fine. And hey, we can prove ourselves to the Hawkcrosses!”

“They  _ better _ stop ignoring you if you save their son from a demon,” Lien said.

“They’d probably only thank  _ you _ ,” Tobias said. “Now c’mon, stop leaning on the door. I’m ready to go.” 

It was, for once, not an ungodly hour of the morning, which was both a blessing and a curse; everyone was well rested but the sun was high and hot in the sky, which wasn’t great when you were wearing dark grey gear. Lien couldn’t wait for fall and winter to come.

“So, uh, demons?” David said. “When are we gonna find them–”

“I’m working on it, Hawkcross,” Lien growled. She checked the undergrowth for any signs of the demons. Dahaks would leave goo and caustic saliva on the ground, as well as just generally disturb the forest. Lien spotted the carcass of a squirrel on the ground, torn in half and burnt in the way demons often left things. So they were probably this way. Kasey peered over Lien’s shoulder, standing on tip-toes.

“Oof,” Kasey said. “Poor little squirrel.” 

“Stop worrying about the squirrels and start worrying about yourself, Kasey,” Lien said. She held her spear in front of her.

“Oh!” Kasey chirped. “You used my first name! You hardly ever do that!” 

Lien wanted to yell at Kasey, but she could practically feel Tobias’s eyes burning into the back of her head. She glanced behind her briefly, and yep, he was looking at her and shaking his head. David was several feet away from him, looking in the exact opposite direction.

“They’re definitely close,” Lien said. “The demons, I mean. So we need to stick together. Do not let one separate you from the group. They won’t hesitate to kill.”

“You don’t need to explain it to me,” David said. “I’ve fought demons before. I’m not a child.”

“Says the dude who forgot his silence rune,” Kasey said. “And had me draw one on the fly.”

“Seriously,” Lien said. “Everyone shut up right now before we find the demons.” She trudged ahead. The forest had that weirdly quiet feeling again, the one that set her on edge. 

The four crept through the forest. Eventually, in the distance, Lien heard the disgusting babble of demonic voices, and smelt the slight scent of sulfur. The three Dahak were gathered in a clearing, over the body of a disemboweled deer who, Lien noticed with faint horror, was still kicking. The Dahak’s tentacles undulated grotesquely in the gore on the ground. 

Lien glanced back at her companions and nodded to signal the attack. David fletched and shot a single golden arrow into the back of one of the Drahak’s head. Kasey was able to to aim one of her throwing knives into as well, but then it whirled round and shrieked, the other two in tow, and the battle began in earnest.

Lien had to admit, it was always exhilarating. In battle she had to focus, had to pay attention to everything. It shut out the constant patter of worry in her head. In close quarters, Tobias and her weapons were more useful than David or Kasey’s, Tobias slashing three ugly gashes down one of the Dahak’s sides with the three claw-like blades extending from his gauntlet. Lien speared through it–the same demon David and Kasey had previously injured–and it dissolved into the air with a strangled shriek. Lien smiled at Tobias, but he was already focused on the other two demons.

David was darting around the edges of the clearing, trying to aim his bow at one of the two moving targets. Kasey had thrown a few more of her knives, but none seemed to be causing the demons much harm, and she had a nasty scratch on one of her hands. A demon rushed toward her.

“Go help David,” Lien said to Tobias, and then sprinted in Kasey’s direction. She clicked the button on the handle of her spear that made it unfolded into chained segments, and wrapped it around the demon’s body, pulling it away from Kasey. The Dahak struggled for a few seconds, just long enough for Kasey to drive a knife deep into one of its eye sockets. It roared, and tried to lunge away, toward Lien, but it was still tangled in her spear. 

“Dang,” Kasey said. “I didn’t know your spear could do that–”

“Shut up and focus on the battle, Goldencoat!” Lien shouted back, but she couldn’t help grinning. 

“Aww, back to my last name?”

“Just kill some demons!” 

Lien heard a cry behind her. Tobias shouting a warning.

“David! Move!” He yelled. Lien knew she shouldn’t turn her back on the demon, but she glanced over her shoulder. A Dahak loomed over David, who seemed to be aiming his arrow at the one stuck in chains. David didn’t even flinch when Tobias called out to him, but his brow furrowed.

“David!” Lien shouted, but he didn’t react in time, and the demon buried its fangs in his shoulder. He yelped and flailed, and right then, Lien realized she hadn’t been paying attention to the demon behind her, and it had slipped out its bonds. She turned around, but it slammed over her, knocking her to the ground hard, and skittering past her, toward David. She pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could, but the Dahak moved quickly.

Tobias slashed at the one biting David until it let go, and then seemed to size up the situation, and stepped back. Lien was still shuffling to put her spear back together, while Kasey scrabbled to get one of her throwing knives out. David was on the ground, defenseless, and as much as Lien hated him, she didn’t want to see him dead. Not like that.

She finally took off running when Kasey slung another throwing knife at the Dahak and struck it in the middle of its body, next to slashes Tobias had made. It split open the Dahak’s dry skin and sent ichor pouring out, and thankfully, the demon dissipated soon after. 

The final Dahak seemed to realize it was surrounded, and took off into the woods. Lien rushed after it, but she wasn’t fast enough, and it disappeared into the forest. She started to run farther after it, but Kasey grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

“He’s hurt,” Kasey said. “You can’t leave him. And you can’t kill that by yourself.”

“Like hell I can’t!” Lien snapped back.

“Lien,” She said. “We need to stick together. And you need to rest.” Lien hated to admit it, but Kasey was right. She sighed and lowered her spear, turning back to the clearing.

“David,” Tobias said again, walking up to David, who was still on the ground, clutching his wounded shoulder. Tobias crouched down next to him and took out his stele, but when he lowered it to David’s arm, David slapped it away. 

“D-don’t fucking touch me!” David said. His voice was strained with pain. Tobias stepped back, looking almost hurt.

“Fine!” He spat. “Bleed out then!” David glowered up at him, matching Tobias’s disdainful gaze. Kasey got between them, and David silently accepted her help. Lien walked up to stand next to Tobias, who watched with quiet anger as the healing rune took effect.

“See?” Kasey said. “It’s fine. Everything’s fine.”

“A demon got away,” Lien said. She paused, thinking it over. “What the hell, David?”

“Why are you yelling at me?” David said. He looked like he wanted to stand up, but was still unsteady, his wound still healing. “I just got bit.  _ He _ was the one who left me to–to two of those things!” 

“I tried to warn you!” Tobias said. “But I guess you’re too good to listen to a half-faerie, eh?”

“Both of you,” Lien said. “Both of you messed this up because you couldn’t get along and now there’s still a Dahak out there.”

“Why are you in charge anyway?” David’s face was alight with anger, his voice raised. “You screwed up too! You didn’t pay attention to that one you had behind you!”

“Guys,” Kasey squeaked out. “Can we not fight about this?”

“I’m in charge because I’m the best Shadowhunter in this goddamn Institute!” Lien was yelling louder now, knowing she shouldn’t, knowing how easy it would be to slip up with her cadence and out herself. “I don’t have time to coddle some idiot who hasn’t worked a day in his life!”

“I don’t have to take this from you!” David finally started to stand up. “My parents run the institute, I don’t have to take orders from some stuck up princess and her freak of a  _ parabatai _ !”

“Don’t talk about Tobias that way! I’ll gut you–”

“Guys!” Kasey spoke above the rest of the group. Everyone looked at her, and she tried to compose herself. “Seriously. We can’t fight about this right now. We need to go back so we can report, and so David can rest. Tomorrow we can go get the last Dahak, okay? It’s not like there’s anyone else in the forest that it could hurt.” 

Lien took a deep breath. Kasey was right again. It was infuriating. 

“Alright,” She said. “Let’s go back then.”

They all walked back to the institute in silence.

* * *

As soon as she could, Lien went back to her room and shut the door hard. She sat down on her bed, feeling the tears she’d been holding back throughout the fight rise in her eyes. She hated crying, hated it even in private, but at least she wasn’t crying in front of David Killstealer Hawkcross.

Except he was right. She messed up. She should have been paying attention to the demon, not turning her back on it. If she couldn’t be good at being a Shadowhunter what even was the point of her? And she yelled at him–what if he’d realized? What would the Hawkcrosses do if they knew she was trans? They already treated Tobias like shit, what if they stopped respecting her too? Or worse–

She was stupid, stupid,  _ stupid  _ crying in her room like some kind of little kid. She prided herself on being strong, but she couldn’t handle some insults? She was angry at David and herself and the whole goddamn world, she wanted to punch the wall, but before she could, there was a knock on her door.

“Lien?” Tobias whispered. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” She said.

“You aren’t fine,” he said back. “You’re hurting. Like, uh, emotionally I mean.”

Stupid  _ parabatai _ bond. Stupid shared pain thing. 

“Can I come in?” Tobias’s voice was soft and kind. 

“Sure.” Lien tried to wipe away her tears, but she was still crying, somehow. Tobias opened the door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. He came over to the bed.

“Nothing was your fault that time, you know,” He said. “David made a bad call and so did I.” 

“I turned my back on the demon,” She muttered. But it was nice to have Tobias here. They knew her better than she knew herself, sometimes.

“Of course you did,” Tobias said. “Your teammate was bleeding on the ground, any sane person would focus on that.”

“I still screwed up, though. I’m not a good Shadowhunter.”

“Lien.” Tobias put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to be perfect. Everyone messes up. That doesn’t make you a bad Shadowhunter. You’re good at what you do.” He smiled. 

“Good enough to meet Clary Fairchild?” Lien said back.

“Absolutely,” Tobias said. He rolled his eyes, but he had kindness in his voice. 

“Okay good,” She said. “Because I’m definitely going to because I  _ know _ she can invent a HRT rune.”

“Do go on.” Tobias had heard this speech so many times, pretty much ever since Lien came out to him, but he always let her tell him about it. She appreciated that, since it cheered her up to talk about.

“Because like, she made a birth control rune, right?” Lien continued. “Birth control for mundanes has to do with hormones.  _ Therefore _ , I don’t think a hormone replacement therapy rune is too much of a stretch. It could be permanent like the voyance rune! So I absolutely need to meet her! I think she could do it very easy and it would improve the lives of trans Shadowhunters everywhere, cause I mean, there’s definitely more of us than people realize!”

“Yeah, I know,” Tobias chuckled a little. “You do know that Jeremiah could probably get you some E if you asked, though? In case you change your mind.”

“I know,” Lien said. “And don’t worry, Tobes, when I meet up with Clary, I’ll make sure to put in a good word about you to Alec Lightwood.”

“Shut up!” Tobias said. “He’s like, practically married! Jeez, I say a guy’s hot one time–”

“More than one time.” Lien smirked. “Way more.”

“-one time! And you never let me live it down!” He punched her shoulder in a friendly way.

“I’m not judging, Toby,” Lien said. “He’s a distinguished Shadowhunter, and probably very handsome, if you’re into dudes.”

“Oh my god, shut up!” Tobias said, but he was laughing. Lien found she was laughing, too. 


	7. Chapter 6: A Conversation Under Moonlight

Tobias and Lien continued to talk for hours. But by the time Tobias left Lien’s room she seemed to be in higher spirits and that’s all Tobias could ask for.

Tobias was tired. Half of it was from the actual fight with the Dahak demons, and the other was just from stupid thoughts going through his own mind. He really hated that he couldn’t stop thinking about David swatting his hand away when he tried to heal him. His brain kept doing this every time David did something slightly rude to him, and Tobias really did not appreciate it at all. In the slightest. 

Tobias got back to his room and slumped down onto the bed. He just wanted to sleep and take a nap, and not think about David for as long as possible. ‘Never’ would be the most prefered timeframe. However, when Tobias closed his eyes, for once he didn’t see David. He saw Arion. 

In the woods.

Defenseless.

Where they let a demon roam free.

Tobias shot up out of bed. “FUCK.” He looked at his clock on the wall. It read passed midnight. “Fuuuuck,” he said again, quickly throwing back on his gear and storming out of the room. In the hallway he was quieter, and came upon Lien’s door. He didn’t even bother knocking, he knew it was rude but whatever. Whatever, this was an emergency. 

Lien hadn’t even been able to get into her pajamas by the time Tobias got back.

“Lien, we forgot about Arion in the woods,” Tobias explained. “We left him out there with the Dahak. Can you get some gear together and meet me in the main hall?” Lien stared at him confused for a few seconds and then nodded. It was good enough for Tobias, and he closed the door and ran down to the main hall to wait. 

It hadn’t taken Lien a whole lot of time to get ready (again, she prided herself on being a Shadowhunter) and, after some quick runing, they were off into the woods once more. 

“How did we forget about Arion?” Tobias said. He was so stupid. He was so so stupid. 

“David was bleeding out on the ground,” Lien said. “Which is less important than your dad, but more attention grabbing, I guess?”

Tobias sighed, as he and Lien hopped over a log. Lien crouched down to the ground in front of Tobias. Even though it was dark, Tobias could still make out the pure black ichor that stained the forest floor. 

“Come on, this way.” Lien said and motioned for Tobias to follow. There was a decent trail of ichor, along with damaged foliage and scratched up trees. They followed it for several minutes before coming at a dead end. There was a large pool of ichor, but no body of the Dahak in sight. 

“You think it just limped here and died?” Tobias asked. The pool of demon blood was dangerously close to the Bear Hole where Arion stayed, but other than that it was hard to tell what killed it. 

“Tobias and Lien, you’re here.” Arion came out from the shade of the trees and greeted the two shadowhunters. “I’m glad to see you’re both okay! Haven’t seen you in a few sunrises, to be honest.”

“Hey, uh...Arion,” Tobias said, calling Arion ‘dad’ to his face still felt a little weird. “Did a demon come through here?”

Arion snapped his finger. “Ah yes, it was a tricky one, but I took care of it, you don’t have to worry, son.” He flashed a smile.

“You killed it?” Lien asked. “All by yourself?”

“Yup!” Arion just continued to smile. “The Wild Hunt sure does teach you a lot of aggressive fighting moves.”

“Can…” Tobias began. “Can you teach me some, sometime? When you get the time or whatever.”

“I mean. I don’t really do anything during the day, so it’s whenever you’re free, son.” Arion put a hand on Tobias’s shoulder and he flinched back. Arion took his hand back and scratched his arm awkwardly. 

Lien pushed between them. “Okay, so there doesn’t seem to be any danger to your father, so can we go back to the Institute and sleep?”

“Actually,” Arion offered. “I haven’t seen Tobias for a few days, would you mind Lien if I spent a few minutes alone with him?”

Lien sighed and then looked at Tobias. “Only a few minutes.” she said before patting him on the shoulder and walking through the shaded foliage. Once Lien was gone, an awkward silence stretched out between Tobias and Arion. 

Arion broke the silence. “So, I wanna know more about you! I’ve apparently missed about 16 years of your life,”

“How many years did you think you missed?” Tobias asked. 

“At the most 5, maybe,” Arion laughed. “When you’re riding through the skies of this world and Faerie, time gets all messed up. It was so hard to tell when a year or even a week had passed.”

“Do you miss it?” Tobias didn’t know why he asked that. He supposed it had just been nagging at his chest. Arion had ran away from the Wild Hunt, but whenever he talked about it there was a hint of longing in his voice. 

Arion seemed to be surprised by that question as well. He ran a hand through his long white hair. “I suppose a little, but I ran away from it to find Tabitha. To return to her like I said I would, and thinking I would help raise our child.” He looked over at Tobias. “Seems like you’ve already been raised right.”

“My parents–er, my mom and my...dad technically, I guess, they didn’t have a happy marriage,” Tobias remembered his mother and father fighting behind closed doors. Remembered when Tony was born and how that was supposed to fix all the fighting. How it hadn’t fixed any of it. “I was the problem for them. My dad could tell I wasn’t his and he and mom got into a lot of fights. He wasn’t ever mad at me though. I guess just...I guess he thought that it wasn’t my fault, he still treated me like his son. And–and then the Dark War happened, and they were both killed.”

“Oh…” Arion said. “I’m sorry I caused all that conflict in your family.”

“It’s fine,” Tobias recovered. “It’s fine. It’s in the past, and you’re...you’re here now. I’m still not an adult yet, so, there’s still stuff you can teach me.” He smiled at Arion, and Arion smiled back. 

At that moment Lien walked back into the clearing. “Okay your few minutes is up Tobias. You can talk to your father again some other time.”

Tobias glanced back at Arion. “I gotta go. I’ll come visit again soon, okay Arion?”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Arion said. Tobias smiled again, and started the walk back to the Institute with Lien.


	8. Chapter 7: Hawkcrosses Do Their Actual Job

They were finally going up to see the werewolves. Things had been quiet for a few days after the Dahak attack; Tobias had been able to visit Arion without much incident, Lien had adjusted to the presence of David Fucking Hawkcross. So it was only natural that the Hawkcrosses would finally go up to do their damn job and meet with one of the new werewolf packs

What wasn’t natural was that they insisted on taking Lien. And  _ just _ Lien. Just her and the Hawkcrosses and no Tobias. In fact, Boyd saying that Tobias wasn’t invited was the first time Lien heard him actually say Tobias’s name. And she would have declined, but she couldn’t trust the Hawkcrosses to not screw this up, considering how they treated the one Downworlder in their midst.

So that’s how Lien ended up trapped in the backseat of a hot car with David Fucking Hawkcross.

“Do you know if there’s any rich veins under the mountain, Lien?” Boyd said from the front seat. He’d been yammering his mouth off about god knows what the entire drive up, while Samantha sat in the driver’s seat, being so quiet that it was a little unnerving. Lien had mostly kept her mouth shut, but this was a direct question.

“No, I don’t know,” Lien said.  _ I’m a Shadowhunter, not a miner _ , she wanted to say, but that was kind of rude and she didn’t want to get on these people’s bad sides.

“Hmm. Well, we should look some time,” Boyd said. “Might be some cool stuff down there.”

“It’s a little dangerous,” Lien said, hopefully not too quickly. If the Hawkcrosses decided to explore the rockier parts of the territory, they might find the Bear Hole, and she didn’t want to think about what they might do to Arion. “There are...bears?”

“I could take a bear,” David said.   
“Have you ever actually seen a bear?” Lien snapped back. “Those f–those guys are really big.” 

“Nothing a Shadowhunter can’t handle!” Boyd’s voice was full of pride. Lien thought of about 50 snippy things she could say in reply, but bit them back. Hopefully they’d be at the town soon and then she wouldn’t have to be stuck in a tiny space with Stupid Bastards #1 & 2 and their weirdly silent compatriot. 

After about 10 more minutes of awkward chit-chat, the car came to stop.

“We’re here,” Samantha said. Her voice was gruff and calm, in sharp contrast to her husband’s bouncy tone. 

Everyone piled out of the car, and Lien took a deep breath of fresh air. She liked being in town, even if she’d rather be here with people she actually liked. The familiar coffee shop stood in front of her, a small brick building with large windows. Inside she could see several people milling about, a small group, which she assumed to be werewolves from a particular pack.

“Oh hey, I’ve been here before,” David said, walking as to be side-by-side with Lien. “When I went up with Tabi and Tobias.”

“You two can wait outside,” Boyd said. “This is grown-up’s business.”

“Why’d you bring us, then?” Lien grumbled.

“Backup. In case things go south.”

“Everyone in the coffee shop knows about werewolves and junk right?” David asked. “Cause if they don’t it’s gonna be weird–”

“YES they know about werewolves, David.” Lien shot him a glare. How could one person be this stupid? “I go here all of the time, most Shadowhunters and Downworlders in the area do too. It’s fine.” All Downworlders except faeries, who couldn’t show their face in this town. Even Tobias got funny looks sometimes. Stupid Cold Peace. 

“Alright well!” Boyd said, apparently trying to ignore Lien’s last remark. “You kids wait outside while we talk.” He ruffled David’s hair as he walked past, earning an embarrassed grumble from David, and Samantha followed.

For about a minute, Lien and David sat outside in blissful, blissful silence. Lien watched what was going on inside the coffeeshop. Boyd and Samantha were conversing with a large, pale, pot-bellied man who had graying brown hair, as well as someone who Lien assumed was his assistant, a dark-skinned person in a striped sweater vest. Lien was trying to read their lips when David finally spoke up. 

“So, uh.” He put a hand on the back of his neck. “How’d you end up in this Institute? Like, it’s way far away from...most things.”

“By choice,” Lien said. “The Ashkeys needed to get away from the rest of the society because of, well, Tobias, and we moved in here.” An unreadable expression passed over David’s face when Lien said Tobias’s name. 

“But I mean,” David said. “What about your parents?”

“They died in the Dark War.” Which was not the truth, but worked well enough for Lien’s purposes.

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

David went quiet again, and Lien went back to observing the conversation. The pot-bellied man was looking a little angry, and his assistant was tapping him on the shoulder. Unfortunately, this quiet only lasted a few seconds before David cleared his throat again. 

“You’re...you’re pretty good at fighting,” David said. He averted his eyes as he said it, and Lien squinted at him.

“You like, just told me that I didn’t deserve to lead the team?” Lien said. 

“Listen, listen, I’d just been bitten on the shoulder by a demon. I wasn’t in a great mood. You’re good at fighting and also...also your hair is nice.”

“Well, I work hard for both of those things.” Lien was very proud of her hair. It took her a long time to grow out, and it certainly took a lot of effort to comb and take care of, but it was worth it. It was beautiful. “If you train hard and grow out your hair you could probably be almost as good as I am.” 

David chuckled.

“Lien,” He said. “What I mean is...is, maybe after this is over, would you want to get coffee together? You’re pretty and…”

“No.” Lien whipped round to look at him. He was??? Flirting with her??? What the fuck??? “I don’t like men. I  _ really _ don’t like you. Go away.” 

“Oh,” David stammered. He took a step away from Lien, looking almost ashamed. “S-sorry. Sorry! Won’t do it again.”

They lapsed again into a silence, which Lien luxuriated in ( _ she _ made David look ashamed! That’s all she ever wanted out of any interaction with him!) before she realized she had something very important to say. She reluctantly broke the silence.

“Can you not tell your parents about the whole…” She looked at the ground. “Me not liking men thing?”

“Y-yeah, of course.” David smiled nervously. 

“Cause I don’t trust them and they run the Institute,” Lien said. “And I mean I don’t trust you either but you  _ flirted _ with me, how else was I supposed to get you to shut up?”

“No, no, I get you,” David said. “I won’t do it again.”

Inside the coffeeshop, Samantha and the werewolf assistant appeared to be setting terms while Boyd and the pot-bellied man glowered at each other. The assistant, Lien realized, didn’t appear to be very old at all. Maybe even younger than her. They were short and soft-looking. 

“How’s Tobias doing?” David said. This guy never knew when to quit, did he?

“Why you fucking care, David?” Lien spat, not looking at him. “You slapped his hand away when he went to  _ heal _ you? Do you know how stupid that was?”

“He got me hurt!” David said.

“No, you got yourself hurt. You two need to shape up so maybe next time nobody gets seriously injured because you two are having a spat or whatever.” Lien knew she was probably saying too much and going too far, but she was angry and David’s parents were too busy with the werewolves to notice her yelling at him. “And if you ever fuck with Tobias again, and I mean  _ ever _ , I’ll make sure you’re really sorry.” She hadn’t looked at David the whole time she was giving this speech, and when she turned he looked more upset than she expected. Good. 

She expected him to say something again, but this time he stayed silent. A few minutes later, Boyd strutted out of the coffee shop, with Samantha trailing behind him.

“I think that went well,” Boyd said. Lien noticed that inside the coffee shop, several glasses had been knocked over, and the pot-bellied man was fuming. His assistant sat beside him, hand over their face, and Lien felt a sense of kinship with them.

“Nobody’s throat got ripped out,” Samantha said. “That’s about it.” 

“Do you kids wanna hang around the town for a little bit?” Boyd asked. He was grinning. “Y’know, like, together.” Lien felt like throwing up, and she noticed that David also looked kind of uneasy about it. Did she really scare him that much? 

“I’m not feeling well, actually,” Lien said. “Can we just go back to the institute.”

“Oh...sure,” Boyd said. Samantha started walking back to the car, her face impassive.

The ride back was uneventful. Lien leaned against the window and fell asleep to the sound of Boyd’s endless chatter. David did not say a word.

* * *

“Tobias!” Lien said as soon as she saw him in the institute hall. “I have  _ news _ for you!” Tobias yawned and stretched his arms. The Hawkcrosses walked passed, looking somber. Boyd was giving David a disappointed look. Oh well, wasn’t her problem.

“Is that so?” Tobias said.

“C’mon.” Lien grabbed his arm and led him back to the hall their rooms were in and shut the door behind them. “You won’t believe this.”

“This better be earth shattering news, Li. This better be something like Sebastian Morgenstern coming back from the dead. Again.”

“Oh no,” Lien said. “It’s way worse!” She grinned. “David Killstealer Hawkcross tried to ask me on a date.”

Tobias blinked, like he was shocked, and then scowled.

“Really?” He said.

“I know right? He asked if I wanted to get coffee with him.  _ Him _ . How stupid could he be?”

“Pretty stupid.” Tobias sounded almost upset. She supposed anyone would be at the prospect of David dating  _ anyone _ , let alone their  _ parabatai _ .

“Anyway then I accidentally came out as gay to him but that’s neither here nor there,” Lien said. “You should have seen his face, though.” Tobias didn’t say anything. She wondered if she should tell him David asked how he was doing, but decided against it. She didn’t want to make Tobias uncomfortable.

“Haha, yeah,” Tobias said after a bit. “Wish I’d been there. I guess.”

“Tobias,” Lien asked. “Is anything the matter?”

“No, no.” He shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m peachy. Got a whole afternoon without the Hawkcrosses!”

“Did you go visit...the Bear Hole?” 

“You can say Arion, you know. Like, we’re alone in here.”

“You don’t know that! Anyway, did you go see him?”

“Yeah. It went fine,” Tobias said. “He’s been teaching me some of his fighting techniques. They work well with my weapon.”

“That’s good,” Lien said. “I’m glad you had a good day.”

“Yeah,” Tobias said, but he still looked downcast.


	9. Chapter 8: Ruins

Tobias had a crush on David.  _ He had a crush on David Fucking Hawkcross.  _ Tobias didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. It’s not like he could tell Lien, she’d just gotten done telling him about how no one would ever wanna date David. He definitely couldn’t tell David himself, David was still an asshole, and also straight, apparently. Tony was twelve, and Tabi was just...Tabi had enough stress already, he didn’t wanna add more on top. 

The only person Tobias really could tell was Arion. So the next day, Tobias brought Lien out with him to visit Arion. It was mostly just to make sure that no one else in the institute found it suspicious that Tobias was leaving the institute on his own. 

The rocky terrain around the Bear Hole had become more familiar to Tobias, and motioned for Lien to stop. 

“I just, uh, wanna talk Arion alone,” Tobias said. 

Lien nodded. “Of course, I’ll keep a lookout for other people.”

Tobias flashed Lien a thumbs up and then vaulted over another large boulder. The Bear Hole wasn’t a far ways away, and Tobias stood by the opening of the hole. 

“Hey, Arion?” Tobias said, down into the hole. There was a happy reply from Arion and Tobias hopped down into the hole. Other than the sunlight streaming through the ceiling of the cave there wasn’t much light, and Tobias had to squint to see him. 

“Tobias!” Arion smiled. “What the matter? It must be important, considering you just visited me yesterday.”

“I...uh,” Tobias just realized how dumb this whole thing was. Arion didn’t even know David, but he guessed that was better in a way. “I just need some help, I have this crush on this dude–”

“That’s good, I’m happy for you!” 

“No, no, no it’s just that like…” Tobias searched for the right words. “He’s an asshole.”

“Oh,” Arion said. And then laughed. “I guess, I can relate,”

“What? Was my mother that big of an asshole?” Tobias wasn’t sure he wanted to hear about how mean his mom was.

Arion laughed again. “No, you’re mother was very nice. I have a boyfriend in the Wild Hunt, Tobias. His name is Lysander and he’s well...to use your words, an asshole.”

“You dated someone else even though you thought my mom was still alive?”

“I had this whole plan, Tobias,” Arion closed his eyes, like imagining what could’ve happened. “Once I’d get out of the Wild Hunt I would find your mother again. Your mother and you, and then I would have you two meet Lysander and we could be one big happy family.” Arion opened his eyes and looked at Tobias. “But...But, Tabitha is dead, and you’re almost an adult yourself. I guess, I was too late.” Arion laughed a little bit wryly. 

“It’s okay, Arion,” Tobias said. “It’s still possible for us to be a family,”

“...would you want to join the Wild Hunt?” Arion asked. “They will get me again, I know they will, and I guess, I would like to have my son there with me.”

Tobias took a step back. He honestly wasn’t expecting that. Tobias thought about being able to ride through the skies of both this world and Faerie with Arion. A part of him ached for that life, to have this kind of connection to Arion. The other part showed him Lien, Tabi, Tony, and even fucking David. He would leave that whole life behind. He would never be able to return to his Shadowhunting life. Would they have to get rid of Lien’s  _ parabatai _ rune if he left?

“I...I don’t know,” Tobias said looking at Arion. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand. I can’t ask you to throw everything away,” Arion said. Despite his words, his mismatched eyes looked disappointed. He leaned against one of the walls of the cave, and it gave way catching Arion completely off guard. There was a moment of flailing arms before he fell through the new hole in the wall. 

“Arion!” Tobias sprung forward and grabbed his witchlight out of his pocket, and stuck his hand through the hole illuminating a dark stairway, filled to the brim with dirt and spiderwebs. Arion had fallen down a few steps and was rubbing his head. Tobias stepped through the hole and through a few webs before reaching Arion. 

“You okay?” He asked. Arion nodded. Tobias gave a sigh of relief, and held his witchlight up higher. It definitely was a stairway, and it was made of marble. It was also very old. Very, very old. On the aged walls were different Shadowhunter runes, but Tobias didn’t recognize any of them. 

“Where are we?” Arion asked standing up. 

“I have no idea. Looks like some old ruins or something,” Tobias said. He looked down into the inky abyss that the stairs lead to, and started the walk down it. 

“Wait, Tobias,” Arion said. “There’s...there’s something down there. I can feel it.”

“What is it?”

“I...I don’t know...I’m just getting a bad vibe.” Arion looked at Tobias. He considered for a second. 

“I’ll go get Lien, she’ll know what to do,”

* * *

“What the hell?” Lien said as she looked at the staircase. She had her own witchlight out and along with Tobias’s it made a decent amount of light. She turned to Arion. “You didn’t know this place was here?”

Arion shook his head. Lien sighed and looked at the weird runes on the wall. Tobias hoped that if anyone knew about the runes, it would be Lien.

“These are the Silent Brother’s runes,” She said finally, turning back to Tobias. 

“Why would they be here?” Tobias said. 

Lien shrugged. “Fuck if I know.” Lien pointed down the stairs. “The best way to find out is down there.”

“Listen, Tobias, and Lien,” Arion cautioned. “There is  _ something _ down there. I know you two are Shadowhunters and have to fight demons all the time but that... _ that _ isn’t something two teenagers can handle.”

“Lien’s a really good Shadowhunter, Arion,” Tobias said, and then turned towards Lien. “How about you get Kasey and bring her down there to investigate with you?”

“Why Kasey?” Lien whirled. 

“Cause the other option is David or his parents,” Tobias said, and then shrugged. “Or Tabi, but she’s pretty stressed.”

Lien huffed. “What’ll you be doing then?”

“Moving Arion somewhere else, We shouldn’t have him right next to this...Silent Brothers thing. Especially if there  _ is _ something down there.” Tobias turned to Arion. “You okay with that?”

“As long as you can continue to visit me, anywhere’s fine.” Arion smiled. 

Tobias’s heart warmed. Arion really cared about him, and then with a jolt Tobias remembered how Arion would still be leaving. Arion would be leaving and Tobias probably wouldn’t even know about it until the next time he decided to visit him. 

“I’m gonna move him up higher into the mountains, it’s more densely packed with trees up there. It’d make for better hiding I think?” Tobias said.

“Sounds good, I’ll go get Kasey then, I guess,” Lien was impassive, but there was something there that Tobias couldn’t really identify. Lien got up and hopped out of the cave. Tobias clapped his father on the shoulder. 

“Lien’s pretty fast, so we should probably get going right away. We don’t want Kasey to see you, ya know.”

Arion nodded.

* * *

Past the rocky area around the Bear Hole, it was mostly just pine trees packed tightly together. Sometimes Lien and Tobias would try to lead larger demons up this way to corner them. That only worked about 50% of the time. 

Tobias had also discovered that Arion was a lot better at squeezing between trees than he was. As per usual, Arion seemed right at home among nature and the trees, again there was the ache in Tobias that wanted to feel the same way. 

“I think It’ll work out Tobias,” Arion said out of the blue. 

“Huh?”

“I never actually gave you any advice about your crush situation,” Arion laughed. “I’m sure it’ll work out fine. It did with me and Lysander,”

“...I’m not so sure…” Tobias’s voice trailed off. 

“Listen, Tobias,” Arion suddenly stopped and turned to Tobias. Placing a gentle hand on Tobias’s shoulder, he continued. “I know I haven’t been around for most of your life but...Whoever this guy is, he should know that you love him. And he should feel grateful for it. You’re a good kid, Tobias, and...I’m glad that you’re my son.”


	10. Chapter 9: Quiet

This was a bad idea. This was a  _ supremely _ bad idea, overwhelmingly a stupid decision, but here Lien was, being lowered into a darkened stairway by Kasey Fucking Goldencoat. The instant her feet touched the marble steps, she set all her weight on them. When she moved, she felt her arms catch on several dusty cobwebs. Gross.

“Okay, I got down safely!” She called back up to Kasey, who was looking down at her, framed in the faint, overcast light. “Come on!”

Kasey grinned, and then leapt down, catching herself with one of her hands when her feet touched the ground. Lien pulled the witchlight out of her pocket and lit the cavern up,

The yellow light barely reached the bottom of the stairs. Lien noticed with a sick feeling the texture of the floors, and moving the light of the witchlight out further, the runes and words on the walls.

“The Silent City?” Kasey whispered behind her. “But…”

“Come on,” Lien said. “And get your witchlight out too, we need all of the light we can get.” She strode down the stairs and heard Kasey follow after her. 

The additional light only serve to cement the growing horror in Lien’s heart. She had only been to the Silent City once, when she and Tobias had gotten their  _ parabatai _ runes, and these halls were eerily similar. She was certain there were the ashes of dead Shadowhunters in these walls, but instead of being a reassuring thing, instead of feeling like her ancestors were protecting her from beyond the grave, it was...wrong. It was empty and...not quiet.

Not quiet at all. 

She heard the sounds of vermin, rats and bats moving around, and farther off, a sound that she had to strain to hear–

Wailing. A crowd of people wailing.

“Kasey!” Lien shouted. She hadn’t meant to yell, startled herself even, but she was so on-edge. “Kasey, do you hear that?”

“The rats?” Kasey stopped behind her, and Lien turned around to face her, eager to see another human being instead of the empty corridors. Even if that human being was Kasey. “Or bats? Or whatever?”

“Not that! Don’t you hear it–it’s like a crowd of people–”

Kasey seemed to consider and listen for a second. She shook her head.

“Maybe it’s the wind?” Kasey volunteered.  _ No, no it’s not _ , Lien thought. The screams were so human, so varied. Lien felt queasy.

“Let’s–let’s just get a move on.” Lien turned back around rapidly, trying to hide the fear on her face from Kasey. She started walking again.

“Lien…” Kasey said behind her. “Lien we can go back, if–”

“I’m not scared!” She needed to not shout. Who knew what was down here? Who knew what could hear them? But she couldn’t help it. “It’s fine. If it’s a demon, the two of us can probably take it, okay? I’m not scared.”

“Lien, it’s okay to be scared. It’s natural–”

“Be quiet.”

Lien felt a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped, whirling around and trying to grab for her spear, before she realized that it was just Kasey. Her heart still thumped in her chest. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Kasey said, drawing her hand back. “I was, uh, I was going for reassurance there, not like...startling you.” Lien wanted to say something snippy in reply, but she knew if she spoke her voice would shake. She felt like she could cry, and she didn’t want to do that in front of Kasey.

“It’s just…” Kasey took a deep breath. “I know you don’t trust me so much but...I have your back, okay? I’ll look out for you, I swear.” Kasey looked at her, for once not grinning.

“Okay,” Lien said. “Okay.” She turned around and started walking again. Things were quiet for a few moments before Kasey ruined things by speaking again.

“I know you have like...trust problems I guess?” Kasey said. “And I mean...that’s your right, y’know, but I just...I really want to–”

“Stop.”

“Can I just finish what I’m saying–”

“No,” Lien said. She motioned to what her witchlight was illuminating, and Kasey stopped right behind her.

On the ground were skeletons. Human skeletons. Scratching at the walls. Lien lifted her witchlight higher and saw that all down the hall, there were dozens, hundreds, thousands–

The wailing increased, a sound like the grinding of bones, the screaming of–of Shadowhunters, Lien knew in her heart–overwhelming and never ending. She clapped her hands to her ears, but that didn’t help at all, the sound was–

–In her head.

* * *

“Lien?” Kasey said. She was kneeling down, and Lien realized that she was on the ground. She didn’t remember falling down. She felt like she’d lost time. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lien said, and meant it. She stood up. What had she been so worried about? “I’m okay.”

“You sure?” Kasey asked. Her green eyes, lit by witchlight, were concerned. Which was absurd. Nothing was wrong. She felt sure of that.

“Yeah. Let’s go back up top and tell Tobias what we found.”

“What are we gonna say, anyway?” Kasey said. “Mass grave? Silent City Two: The Reckoning?”

“Just some catacombs.” Lien started walking back, past Kasey. “That’s all.”

“Your witchlight!” She heard Kasey picking up the pace to follow her. “It...it went out!” Lien looked at her hand. So it had. That was odd.

“Goldencoat, you can go up ahead, then,” Lien said. It was fine.

“Hey, I thought I was Kasey to you now?”

“Sure. Kasey.”

Kasey led the way back, the witchlight bouncing off the walls. It wasn’t so bad, down here. It was so quiet.

* * *

Tobias greeted them at the top of the stairs.

“How was it?” He asked. He took a step toward Lien.

“There’s uhhhhh,” Kasey said. “A shitload of skeletons down there. It’s like...it’s really like the Silent City but...wrong.”

“It’s fine,” Lien said. “I don’t know what the problem was. There isn’t anything down there.” Tobias gave her a strange look.

“Lien,” He said. “Are  _ you _ okay?”

“Of course I’m okay,” She said. Why wouldn’t she be? There wasn’t anything down there. Just nothing. Just nothing.

So quiet. 

“Are you sure you’re okay? Like absolutely positive? My  _ parabatai _ connection–”

“I’m fine, Tobias. Trust me.” 

Tobias sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go back to the institute and tell Tabi and...the Hawkcrosses.”

He started walking away, as did Kasey. Lien followed, but glanced back down at the stairway. Hands, hands and hands reaching out to her from the darkness. 

* * *

She tried to sleep. She  _ tried _ to sleep. Sleep would have been so easy and so sweet, if it was just quiet like before. But it wasn’t. She could hear the heartbeats–seven heartbeats. Loud. Loud like screaming. And a hunger struck her, a hunger so profound. She needed to eat, she was dying she needed to eat–

She rose from her bed. What was there to eat? Nothing under the earth. Nothing but rocks. Nothing nothing nothing so quiet. 

_ Just the little one _ , she thought.  _ Just the little one. That’s all. That’s all you need. _

_ Rescue will come soon. It has to. Oh god it has to it has to– _

What was she thinking? What rescue? Why were there–

_ Don’t, he’s our only son–please– _

_ They’re dead already. They’re dead already. If we eat we might live– _

If she ate they would shut up. Whatever was in her head, the crowd, the wailing it would go away. Just the little one.

She knew where Tony’s room was, she knew the Institute better than anything. The doors of the rooms weren’t locked–they didn’t need to be. It was good that everyone could trust each other like that.

The door creaked as she opened it slowly. Tony was asleep inside, his blankets pulled over his shoulders. She could hear his heartbeat, loud, loud, loud. She could make it stop, make him still and quiet and feed herself. She was so hungry, so hungry–

She lunged for him, quicker than she meant to. Her limbs were clumsy, she missed his throat. He blinked awake.

“Lien?” He said.  _ Who’s Lien? _ She thought. 

_ He’s already dead they’re all already dead we have to we have to we have to– _

The thing on the bed screamed, a high, piercing whine. She needed to make it quiet, it needed to be quiet. Her head hurt–

_ Shut that thing up shut that thing up shut that thing up _

_ I’ll kill it I swear by the angel shut it up shut it up _

_ Good meat tender meat food food food food rescue any day now any day now it’ll all be worth it any day now–eat, eat, eat–  _

Her hands were around the screaming thing’s neck, it was trying to say something, trying to kick at her, but she was stronger than it. All the hands helping her. It would be quiet soon.

A flash of pain hit her–something hit her, something sharp pinned her to the wall. A figure in the doorway, a bow and arrow–others rushing behind it. They were yelling. She couldn’t understand what they were saying–

What they were–

Lien felt blood drip from her arm. Felt herself separate from the thing in her head. The thing in her head, the wailing–

The screaming wasn’t just in her head anymore. On the bed, Tony was sobbing. David was yelling at her, asking what the hell she was doing. Tabi was rushing into the room, grabbing her little brother to safety. 

Tobias was in the doorway, and he was looking at her. He was looking at her like she was a stranger. For all she knew, she  _ was _ .

She felt the thing in head rear up again, and she screamed out to match it. 


	11. Chapter 10: Say It and It is Broken

Tobias had been so stupid. He’d known something was wrong with Lien, he could feel it in his  _ parabatai _ connection. But he hadn’t done anything. All he did was ask if she was okay or not. He was so stupid. So, so stupid. 

David had been able to restrain Lien as she went into her screaming fit, and they all had locked her in that room. They had moved to a completely different room in the house, but Tobias could still hear Lien screaming at the top of her lungs. It was a terrible sound.

All the while his heart kept coming in and out of aching. Kept feeling the... _ wrongness _ of his bond with Lien. Something was wrong with Lien, and that something had almost killed his little brother. 

Tony was grabbing onto Tabi, his wailing had stopped and were replaced by his sniffles and sobs. Tony had been through so much already, and now he was almost strangled by someone he knew for almost his entire life. 

David was tapping his foot impatiently. “We need to kill her,”

“What?!” Tobias yelped. “No!”

David glared at Tobias. “She just tried to strangle your fucking brother and you’re defending her?”

“Language, young man,” Boyd said. His hair was standing up on end, and he didn’t seem to know what to do. Samantha was sitting next to him with the same expression.

“She’s  _ dangerous, _ ” David hissed through clenched teeth. “We can’t have someone who will kill another person here.”

“It’s not her,” Tobias countered. “I feel it, it’s...whatever that thing that tried to strangle Tony, it’s not Lien. She would never do that to Tony,”

“You could be wrong,” David said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,”

Tobias ran through a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn’t wanna be having this argument with David fucking Hawkcross. 

“How do you know she hasn’t been faking this whole–” David didn’t get to finish before Tobias had grabbed his collar. Fear flashed through David’s eyes for a second before he returned to his scowl. 

“That’s my  _ fucking parabatai _ , David,” Tobias practically spat. “But I guess you wouldn’t understand what having that kind of trust in someone is.”

David pushed Tobias away. “Don’t touch me!”

Tobias flattened out his shirt. Fuck, why.  _ Why  _ did it have to be him. 

“You’re just making Tony more upset,” Tabi almost whispered. Beside Tabi, Tony had his face almost buried in her side. David’s expression softened. Tobias took a deep breath. 

“Listen, I feel something in my  _ parabatai _ bond with Lien. Something is wrong,” Tobias explained again. 

“I agree with Tobias,” Kasey spoke up for the first time. “When we went down to that place, Lien was very scared at first, but...but then she fell and when she got back up, she acted like she was completely fine. But her witchlight went out.”

“Ya see?” Tobias motioned to Kasey, happy to have someone backing him up. “We just need to have someone look at Lien. We can get Jeremiah up here and have them look at her.”

“I don’t have the warlock’s number,” Boyd said, more like he was just thinking aloud than to defy Tobias. 

“I do,” Tabi sighed. “They’re very selective with who gets their number. I’ll call them up,” Tabi gently pat Tony on the head. “I’m gonna leave for a bit, okay Tony?” Tony nodded, followed by another sniffle, and he let go of Tabi. Tabi nodded to everyone and exited the room. No one said anything. The only sound was the soft ticking of the clock on the wall and the distant sounds of Lien’s screams rising and falling. 

Tony stood off to the side of the room, he looked lost. Tobias knew he should go over to him and comfort him, but he couldn’t for some reason. His legs wouldn’t move him. He didn’t like to admit that he wasn’t good around Tony, but he wasn’t. He wanted to be a strong dependable older brother for him, but he couldn’t. 

Lien screamed especially loud, followed by a thump that made everyone in the room jump. Tony looked terrified, and Tobias had expected Tony to run to him but instead Tony ran to David, wrapping his arms around him and crying into his side. David wasn’t sure what to do at first, but then rubbed the young boy’s back. 

“Hey,” David’s voice was softer than Tobias had ever heard it. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

Tobias tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy. He’d just been thinking how he wasn’t good with his brother right? Well...well at least David was. At least Tony had David. 

“I’m gonna…” Tobias said. “I’m gonna go see if I can talk to Lien,” They didn’t need him here. 

“She’s gonna hurt you,” David said, like he cared or something. 

“We’re  _ parabatai, _ ” Tobias simply said. 

“T-Tobias,” Tony sniffled. Tobias was shocked that his little brother had said anything at all. “Just...Be...B-be careful,” Tony’s voice was broken and shaking. Tobias tried to give his little brother the best reassuring smile he could muster.

“I’ll be careful.”

* * *

Getting closer to the door with Lien was interesting. The closer he got, the more he could pick out words Lien was actually saying. When she  _ was _ actually saying words and not just making horrible screeching noises. It unsettled Tobias hearing her flip-flop between yelling out for help and saying ‘eat’ and ‘quiet’ over and over again.

He knocked on the door. “Lien? Lien, what’s going on?”

More screaming. There were a few bangs. 

“Lien?” Tobias raised his voice. . “Lien, what happened down there?”

“Tobias,” Lien’s voice came out hoarse and scratchy, but she’d said an actual word. “Tobias, please, please help–” she was cut off by another onslaught of yelling. 

“Help with what? Lien what’s wrong?” Tobias asked. He felt the wrongness swell up in his heart again. 

“Tobias, Tobias, we have to kill him,” Lien croaked out. “Help–he–he won’t last long enough. Kill him to survive–to eat. Survive till help.” Behind the door Lien was sobbing. 

“Tabi’s getting Jeremiah,” Tobias said, failing to hide the fear in his voice. He didn’t know what was happening to Lien, and he didn’t know what would happen to his  _ parabatai _ if he didn’t do anything. “You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

Lien screamed again, and then stopped suddenly. She groaned and moaned, and so quiet Tobias almost couldn’t hear she said. “We could eat him. I’m hungry, aren’t you hungry?”

* * *

Jeremiah had portalled to the Institute and was in the main hall. Tabi and Tobias were there to meet them. Jeremiah’s wings were actually a different color for once, they were a pale blue and Jeremiah was rubbing sleep from their eyes. So they had been telling the truth about their wings changing color. 

“Tabitha,” They said, stifling a yawn. “What is the reason you woke me up well past midnight?”

“I’m sorry, Jeremiah, but it’s urgent–” Tabi started.

“There’s something wrong with Lien,” Tobias interrupted.

“Does she finally want me to get her some E?” Jeremiah sighed. “Cause she could’ve just asked the next time you visited.”

“No, no it’s...way worse,” Tobias said. As if almost on cue, Lien’s screams filled the Institute again. Jeremiah jumped and the tips of their wings flashed yellow for a second. The screams were even worse in the main hall. They seemed to bounce off the walls. 

“Ah, I see,” Jeremiah said simply. They combed a hand through their hair. “You can tell me what happened as we get to her,”

Jeremiah strolled past Tabi, and Tobias, and the siblings both followed. Tobias really didn’t wanna tell anymore people about the ruins, but he supposed it was probably the most important thing at the moment. 

“There is this...hole near the rocky area of the mountain,” Tobias began. “I found it while...uh, tracking down a demon. It’s almost like a Silent City down there.”

Jeremiah’s wings twitched. “And you and Lien investigated it?”

“No, Lien went with Kasey,” Tobias said. “When Lien came out I felt something wrong with her...with my  _ parabatai  _ bond _. _ But I ignored it, and then she tried to strangle Tony.”

“I think I might know what that place is,” Jeremiah said, a smile spreading across their face. “I was alive when it was still in construction. It was meant to be a Second Silent City, to have it be in a more secluded place, and have it be for more prestigious Shadowhunters. Something happened though, and there was a cave-in. All the Shadowhunters working on it died from what I heard.”

“What?” Tabi said. “Why haven’t I ever heard about this?”

“Oh, you know the Clave. They never wanna admit to their own mistakes.” Jeremiah stopped in front of Lien’s door. “Anyway, Tobias, Tabitha, you two are to restrain Lien. She clearly isn’t stable and I’ll need her still to figure out what’s wrong with her.”

Tobias and Tabi nodded. Jeremiah smiled and gingerly opened the door. The room was illuminated by the hallway’s light, and there was Lien, scrunched up in a ball on the ground, there was blood on the floor. A lot more than there should’ve been. Tobias realized with a start that the arm David had shot now had rabid bite marks over it, some seeming to have broken the skin. 

Lien had stopped screaming for the time being at least. She seemed to have worn herself out. Tobias and Tabi each grabbed one of her arms, lifted her up, and put them behind Lien. She peeked her eyes open, and they were red and puffy. 

Jeremiah knelt down to Lien’s level and lifted her chin up to face them. Tears once again started to stream down her face. She’s completely thrown out her throat after all that yelling and could only muster a pathetic ‘help’ at Jeremiah. They sighed. 

“Something’s inside of her,” Jeremiah said. “Something evil.”

“Well, can you get it out?” Tobias asked. The idea of Lien never being like her regular self again...It wasn’t a thought he wanted to entertain. Especially since it would be his fault that she’s like this. 

“Of course I can,” Jeremiah said proudly. “It’d just be easier if I had other things from my home.”

“I can go get them,” a voice said from the doorway. Tobias looked behind Jeremiah, and saw Kasey standing there. Her face full of worry for Lien. 

“You left Tony alone with the  _ Hawkcrosses? _ ” Tabi asked. 

Kasey just shrugged. “David surprisingly has it under control. He and his parents have moved Tony as far away from Lien’s room as they can. David’s really good with Tony.” Kasey shook her head. “I can go get the things Jeremiah needs to help Lien. I want her to get better.”

Jeremiah seemed to be searching for something in Kasey’s expression and then just sighed. “Fine, come with me Kasey. I’ll make a portal for you in the main hall. Tobias, Tabitha, keep her restrained. Who knows when that thing in her will rear up again.”

* * *

While Kasey was gone, Jeremiah examined Lien more. She’d spoken a few more times, but it was nothing more than the gibberish about eating, and the rescue, and to shut “that thing” up. Jeremiah remained calm the whole time. Tobias wanted to ask if they’d had to do this before, but his voice wouldn’t seem to work. 

Kasey finally returned after what seemed like hours. In her arms were candles, an old weathered book, and what looked like meat. Jeremiah quickly explained the candles, and the book, but wouldn’t explain what the meat is for. 

Kasey lit and placed the candles around Lien in a circle and Jeremiah told Tobias and Tabi to let her go. After a moment of deliberation, Tobias let go of his  _ parabatai _ and went to stand behind Jeremiah. Lien just went back to being curled up on the ground. 

“She’s going to be okay right?” Tobias asked Jeremiah. They didn’t seem to hear as they flipped through pages of their book. Tobias wrapped his arms around himself. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and pull him closer. It was Tabi.

“She’s going to be fine.” Tabi murmured. Lien had to be okay. She had to be. 

Jeremiah stopped on a page of their book and grinned. They waved their hand and purple fire enveloped their hand. The candles surrounding Lien changed to that same purple one by one. Jeremiah recited a few words in a language Tobias couldn’t understand, and it seemed to have an effect on Lien. She was shaking violently now. 

“Kasey,” Jeremiah said. Kasey nodded and picked up the piece of meat and knelt down to Lien. She was still shaking, so Kasey had some trouble getting the meat into Lien’s mouth, but she managed. Lien seemed to sputter and choke on it for a second before swallowing. She lay still for a moment before going into a much worse coughing fit. 

Jeremiah said a few more words Tobias couldn’t understand, and–and  _ something _ started coming out of Lien’s mouth. Tobias didn’t even know how to describe it. It had so many hands. So many emaciated arms and hands. Next to him he felt Tabi pull him closer. She was shaking. 

Jeremiah didn’t seem worried by it though. Once Lien had coughed what looked like the whole thing out, along with a lot of bloody spit, they ordered Kasey to get Lien out of the circle. Kasey complied, and the moment they were out of the circle, Jeremiah snapped their fingers and the whole circle was enveloped in the purple fire. And when it died down, the...the  _ thing _ wasn’t there anymore. It left behind no trace of it even being there. 

“I think Lien needs to rest now,” Kasey said. She’d placed her on the bed, which was a few sizes too small for her since it was Tony’s. Lien’s eyes were closed and she seemed to be asleep. 

“There we go,” Jeremiah said. They turned to Tabi. “I’m assuming you’ll be paying for this as well right?”

“O-of course,” Tabi replied. She still didn’t seem fully there after seeing a demon come out of Lien’s mouth. 

“Good, now I have one more thing,” Jeremiah said. Tobias had expected them to tell everyone how to deal with Lien if that thing came back but to his surprised they turned to Kasey. “Kasey Goldencoat, I’d like to have a word with you real quick. And bring my equipment as well.”

Kasey blinked. 

“Of...Of course, Jeremiah,” Kasey walked up next to Jeremiah, and they both strode out of the room. Tobias could’ve sworn that the tips of Jeremiah’s wings were red as the two turned the corner.


	12. Chapter 11: Visits

Lien’s throat  _ hurt _ . She was unsure if it would ever stop hurting. Her voice was so quiet and hoarse (low and rough to the point that her dysphoria reared its ugly head, too) that she was pretty sure no one could understand her if she tried to talk. And everything else hurt also, especially her arm, where she’d bitten and worried at the wound. Healing runes had been applied and were working, but she was pretty sure it was going to scar there. She tried not to remember how it had felt to claw and bite that wound open. 

Her mouth still tasted like blood, and she was so tired. But every time she closed her eyes she saw that  _ thing _ that had crawled out of her, that writhing mess, and it made her want to throw up. But there was nothing in her stomach besides whatever bitter-tasting thing Jeremiah had laced the meat with.

Tabi had insisted Lien be put on bedrest for the next few days, which was both a blessing and a curse. Lien knew she couldn’t hunt like this, and didn’t want to face the rest of the people in the institute anyway. But also she had nothing to do, so all she could do was  _ think _ . 

Would Tony ever trust her again? Would _anyone_ ever trust her again?  
Could she even trust herself?  
“Lien?” She heard the door creak open and saw the thin beam of light coming through the crack. She winced; light hurt her eyes, had done so since the exorcism. She sat up to look at Tobias, and then looked away, remembering the look on his face that horrible night in Tony’s room. “How are you doing?” He asked, his voice gentle.

“Great,” Lien squeaked out. “Peachy. Perfect. Awesome.”

Tobias went over to her bed and tried to put an arm on her shoulder, but she flinched away. She couldn’t stand that right now. She was worried if she started crying she’d never stop, and her throat and eyes hurt so much. Tobias sighed.

“That wasn’t you,” He said. “I know it wasn’t you. It was that...that thing. You didn’t do anything wrong and nobody blames you.” It was all the right things to say, and it should have helped.

“Tony’s never gonna get over it. He’s never gonna trust me again. He’s just a kid…”

“He knows that wasn’t you.” Tobias sat down on the floor next to her bed. “We all know, okay? It’s gonna be okay, Lien.”

“I was so scared.” Lien bit back tears. She couldn’t cry again. She thought about David and his parents seeing her like that. “Something bad happened down there.”

“I know. Jeremiah told us. There was a cave-in–”

“Worse than that.” Lien swallowed hard. “They were–they were eating each other down there, they were killing each other, it took months–” The memories had been so clear in her head when she was possessed, but now they were fleeting, only glimpses of blood, ribs, teeth gleaming in the witchlight, the ghost of a baby crying. She wished she could have just forgotten entirely. 

“You don’t have to go back there ever again, okay?” Tobias tried to give a reassuring smile. Lien appreciated the effort. “Jeremiah said they’re gonna be putting wards on the entrance. This is the last we’ll hear of it, I swear.” 

“Tobias?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you stay here until I fall asleep?”

“Of course. Of course I can.”

* * *

Over the next few days, Tobias brought Lien her food and she rested, only leaving her room to go to the bathroom or take a shower. The recovery period was nice, but quickly she itched to get back to hunting. However, she could still barely stand, and her voice was still a squeak. There was nothing to do but wait.

About two days in, Tabi came to visit. Lien recognized the gentle knock on the door and told her to come in.

“How’re you feeling?” Tabi said softly. She opened the door slightly more and Lien realized with a start that Tony was with her as well. This was the first time Lien had seen him since–the incident, and she looked away quickly.

“I’ve been better,” she said. 

“Tony, you can come in too,” Tabi said. Lien tried her best not to look in their direction, but eventually stole a glance. Tony was shaking his head and trying to hide behind his older sister. Lien couldn’t blame him.

“It’s alright,” Lien rasped. “He can wait outside.”

“Oh. Okay.” Tabi let Tony scamper off and she walked in, shutting the door behind her. “How are you doing? Really?”

“...do you think he’ll ever trust me again? Be honest.”

“I don’t know.” Tabi put a hand on her face and sighed. “I always counted him lucky, since he didn’t have to see our parents as Endarkened, but I guess...I guess this is similar.”

“I’m sorry.” Lien and Tobias had been too young to really fight in The Dark War, and Lien had been lucky enough that her parents had been away on business and avoided all of Sebastian Morgenstern’s sweeping massacres.

But Tabi hadn’t been so lucky. She’d fought. Lien always wondered if she’d encountered her parents, but she would never ask Tabi that. Wouldn’t want to dredge up a memory that bad. What could be worse than seeing something that wore the face of a loved one, but was evil, alien, out to kill you?

She supposed everyone now knew, courtesy of the thing in her head.

“It’s not your fault, Lien,” Tabi said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s not your fault that–”

“What was it?” Lien interrupted. “Did Jeremiah tell you what that thing was? Was it a demon? A ghost?”

“I-I don’t know. They never said.”

“I was scared, when I was down in...in the Almost Silent City. If I’d been braver do you think–”

“Lien, anyone would be scared,” Tabi said. “From what I’ve heard of it at least. It sounds like a scary place. You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? And Tony knows that wasn’t you, he’s just...skittish. I’m sure he’ll forget about it eventually.”

Lien wasn’t so sure. She wished she could forget about what happened, but she doubted she ever could. The ugly scar on her right arm would make sure of it.

“Listen.” Tabi tried to smile, a reassuring smile Lien could remember Tabi using to calm down her, and the Ashkey brothers, during that time right after the Dark War. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Lien smiled back and tried her best to believe that.

* * *

“Hey!” Lien’s door slammed open and into the room stepped David Fucking Hawkcross. It had been about a day since Tabi visited. “So what the hell happened back there?”

“Close the door,” Lien grumbled, squinting. “The light hurts my eyes.” 

David obliged, but slammed the door shut rather than closing it like a civilized fucking human being. 

“So?” Lien said. David’s brow furrowed.

“What,” He enunciated slowly. “The hell happened back there?”

“I don’t fucking know! You expect me to know? If you find out you better tell me because I am just as in the dark as you, dumbass.”

“Oh, real convenient.” David strode up next to her bed, which was way closer than  _ anyone _ deserved to be with him. “How am I supposed to know that wasn’t just all you?”

“I tell you what, I’m not screaming my throat ragged and gnawing my own arm off for shits and giggles!” Lien tried to shout, but couldn’t quite manage it, and then immediately started coughing. She tried to calm down and control her voice. She didn’t need to be outed to David Fucking Hawkcross right now. “Thanks for that arm wound, by the way.” She said once she could manage to speak.

“You were strangling a kid! What did you  _ want _ me to do?”

Lien ruminated for a few moments. What else could David really have done?

“You did the right thing,” She grumbled. “And that’s the only time I’m gonna ever be saying that to you so you best enjoy it, Hawkcross.”

“Okay,” David said. He didn’t seem to be appreciating it. “But that doesn’t prove–” 

“Li!” Tobias called from the other side of the door. “Is he bothering you?”

“Yes!” She said. “Come kick his ass!” 

Tobias cracked the door open, and then stepped inside. Despite everything, he was wearing a mischievous smile.

“David,” he said. “Quit giving my  _ parabatai _ a hard time.”

“But she–”

“I told you, the connection felt wrong, okay? And it’s gone now. She’s fine.”

“I’m not fine.”

“Okay, she’s not fine but she’s not going to strangle anyone,” Tobias said. “Which means I’m gonna have to strangle you for her if you don’t leave her the hell alone.”

David blinked, and then scowled and sighed.

“Fine, fine,” He said. “I’ll get out of your hair or whatever.” And then he stomped out the door.

“You got him to shut up again,” Lien observed. “You need to teach me how to do that.”

“As soon as I figure out the secret,” Tobias said. “I will.” He stretched. “Anyway you want some hot chocolate or whatever, you sound pretty hoarse?”

“Y’know, I’m gonna get used to being waited on hand and foot.” Lien lay back on the bed. “I’m gonna be all spoiled once I get back in the game.”

“Sure, sure,” Tobias went to leave. “Maybe you’ll stop being such a perfectionist.”

“I’ll die before I stop criticizing David Killstealer Hawkcross.”

“A man can dream!”

* * *

It was only the day before Lien was set to start hunting again when Kasey finally came to visit. It was late in the afternoon, and Lien was trying to enjoy her last night of bedrest, when Kasey stepped in.

Kasey usually entered rooms like a firecracker, loud and flashy and trying to draw attention to herself, but she was oddly quiet this time, giving Lien a shy smile. Lien sat up a little.

“Kasey?” She said.

“Yeah,” Kasey said, averting her eyes. “Sorry it took so long, I–I, uh got nervous.” She walked over and sat down next to Lien’s bed. Kasey took a deep breath before continuing. 

“I just wanted to apologize I guess. I said I’d watch your back and then I let...that happen to you.”

“You couldn’t have done anything,” Lien said. This was the first time she’d seen Kasey look anything but perfectly cheerful. 

“Yeah, and that…” She ran her hands through her blond hair, unfastening her ponytail. “That feels bad. I...I should have tried harder. Should have told Tobias and the others about what happened, about your witchlight going out. Maybe then…”

“Kasey.” Lien was struck with the urge to reach out and touch Kasey, to put a hand on her shoulder. Kasey’s green eyes were still averted. “I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know but…”

“What you said down there,” Lien continued. “In the catacombs, that was nice and...and I wouldn’t mind training with you more often.”

Kasey finally looked up at her, and her face broke into one of her stupid goofy grins. But for once, Lien didn’t mind so much.

“Y’know what?” Kasey stood up. “You haven’t called me “Goldencoat” this entire time.”

“Okay, then.” Lien yawned and lay back down. “Let me sleep, Goldencoat.”

“Ah, there it is.”

Lien closed her eyes and settled down. Things were silent for a moment.

“Goodnight, Lien,” Kasey whispered. Then she leaned down and kissed Lien on the forehead. A few seconds later, Lien heard the door open and close. She slept, and for once, did not dream of the dead under the mountain.


	13. Chapter 12: On The Defense

Since Lien was still taking the time off for bedrest, Tobias had to visit Arion alone. He’d had to make sure no one was following him or anything as he passed over the rocky area and the hole that held the Almost Silent City. Jeremiah had said that they would put wards up, but even still, every time Tobias passed it he felt his stomach drop a little. 

Arion had been teaching Tobias different faerie moves for the past few visits, but they’d been having a harder time since they’d moved to the area with more compact trees. Tobias fell on his back after trying to pull some awkward dodge technique Arion was trying to teach him. 

“Ah, you okay?” Arion asked, offering a hand to help Tobias back up. He took it. “I know this one is a bit weird, but I do think you’re making progress, son.”

“I know, I know I’m just, oof, I’m real shitty with balance, Arion,” Tobias replied. “Here, I’ll try it again,”

As Tobias got back on both his feet, he stepped on his right foot weird and  ended up on his back again. Arion laughed and offered another hand. 

“I think we should stop training for the day,” Arion said. Tobias leaned against one of the trees. “How’re you and that boy doing?”

“I don’t know,” Tobias sighed. He hadn’t thought about David all that much honestly. Since he’d been more focused on Lien getting better after that whole ordeal. “The last interaction I had with him I threatened to strangle him,”

“Why’d you do that?” Arion looked confused. 

“He was annoying Lien,” Tobias shrugged. “It’s fine, I didn’t actually do it, Arion.” He quickly added after looking at Arion’s increasingly baffled face. 

Arion sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t look confused anymore, but a bit tired. After a second longer he said. “Tobias, why don’t you ever call me ‘dad’ or ‘father’?”

Tobias blinked. He had not been expecting Arion to ask that. And Tobias hated the he didn’t have a clear answer for him. 

“I...I don’t know,” Tobias said. “I guess, I still see...my ‘dad’ as my actual dad, ya know?”

“Innokenti was his name right?” Arion said, his expression unreadable for once. “Tabitha told me about him. He...he didn’t seem like a good man.”

“No, he was...fine,” Tobias was having trouble searching for the right words. Innoventi had raised Tobias just like he would as his own kid, but Tobias wasn’t stupid, and he knew that his mother and him would fight all the time. Mostly about Tobias himself. It’d only been four years since both their deaths and Tobias didn’t like to think about it. “He was fine to me, and he was still my dad,”

“I wanted to raise you, you know?” Arion said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get to raise you.”

“You’re still like...super important to me,” Tobias said. He kicked off of the tree and walked over to Arion. “But like...you’re also kinda a stranger in a way. I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, Arion pulled Tobias close for a hug. It was awkward with Arion being a foot taller than Tobias, but neither of them cared. Arion had buried his face in Tobias’s shoulder and was shaking. It took Tobias a second to realize that Arion was crying. Tobias reached around and rubbed circles on Arion’s back. 

“I-I’m sorry…” Arion whimpered. “I’m s-sorry I was gone f-for your whole life. I’m sorry,”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Tobias said softly. “You were in the Wild Hunt. it’s not like you could’ve done anything. You’re here now, Arion. And that’s all that matters.”

Arion pulled away from Tobias, and Tobias smiled. There were still tears streaming down Arion’s cheeks, and he tried to wipe them away. However he still managed to crack a smile back at Tobias. 

“Gods, it must be so stupid to see your dad cry in front of you,” Arion laughed ruefully.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Tobias said. “I’ve seen dad cry in front of me a shit ton.”

Arion laughed into his sleeve. “You know that actually does.” and for a moment they stood there like that. Father and son, happy to just be in each other’s company. 

And then a yelled pierced through the moment.

“Tobias!” It was David’s voice. David’s stupid, stupid voice. 

Tobias sighed, and next to him Arion laughed. “Is that they boy you like?”

“Sadly, yes,” Tobias picked up his gear off the ground. “I’m sorry, I guess, I’m gonna have to cut this visit short. I’ll visit again soon!” He waved one more quick wave to Arion and ran through the forest towards David’s voice. 

He ran into David fairly quickly, which worried Tobias. If he’d walked up the mountain a little bit farther he would’ve found Arion cryin on Tobias’s shoulder. And that just would’ve been awkward for everyone. 

David still had his back to Tobias and he saw David cup his hands around his mouth to yell his name again. Before David could utter a sound though, Tobias lightly hit him in the back of the head. 

“I’m right here, idiot.” Tobias said, walking around to the front of David. “What’re you doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same question!” David said. “I just found it weird that you weren’t in the Institute at all. So I came looking for you,”

Tobias hated that his heart sped up at the fact that David had been actually  _ looking _ for  _ him. _ Why the fuck did it have to be David. Did the Angel hate Tobias that much?

“I’m on patrol,” Tobias coolly said, and then started walking away from where Arion was. “I’ve already patrolled up there. I’ll just do a quick perimeter check and then head back to the Institute, alright?”

“Oh, well, I’ll join you if you’re on patrol,” David said, following Tobias. David was just tormenting him at this point. “I’ll make sure you don’t slack off or anything,”

Tobias sighed, and shrugged. He supposed he had to deal with David now as well. As they came down the mountain, Tobias kept hearing leaves rustling and twigs snapping. He kept thinking there was a demon nearby, until he just realized it was behind him and was actually just David. Who as almost as loud as a demon. 

“Goddamn, David,” Tobias said. “Did you not put a silence rune on  _ again _ ?”

“To be fair I didn’t think I’d be going on patrol! I thought I’d just be grabbing you,” David crossed his arms. 

“Here,” Tobias gripped David’s arm. “Let me just give you one.”

Tobias had expected David to protest or do just about anything, but David didn’t say anything. He let Tobias take his arm, and draw the careful strokes over his skin. David did, however, refuse to look at Tobias the whole time he was drawing. The moment Tobias drew the last stroke he pushed David’s arm away. It’d been awkward. It’d been  _ very _ awkward. 

“Don’t expect to do that often,” David said, pulling his sleeve over the newly drawn rune. “It was just...It was just as an apology. For not letting you heal me in that fight a while ago. I was being dumb.”

“You said, it not me.” Tobias said. He’d turned away from David and hoped to god that David hadn’t seen his face get a little redder. God Tobias hated this so fucking much.  _ Why did it have to be David. Why. _

* * *

They’d continued on with their patrol. It continued to be awkward. It was mostly filled with silence, complete silence now that David had a silence rune on. They’d come to the edge of the patrolling area and Tobias told him they should start heading back to the institute. David nodded, and they started the long trek back to the Institute.

“Sooo,” Tobias said. The silence had been killing him inside. He’d half wished he hadn’t put the silence rune on David so that he would be able to hear  _ something _ from him. “I heard you asked Lien on a date? How did that pan out?”

“Why do you wanna know?” David tensed up. “It’s none of your business.”

“Lien is my  _ parabatai _ . So I think it is my business actually.” In actuality, Tobias just wanted to talk about David’s relationship status. He was sure that he’d given himself away at some point and that, like...David  _ had _ to know Tobias had a crush on him. Tobias couldn’t help talking about it, though. And he actually had an excuse this time. 

David sighed. “It was before she tried to strangle a 12 year old, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“So what? You gonna start flirting with Kasey now?” Tobias asked. 

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” David’s shoulders were still tensed up. 

Tobias was about to ask the stupidest question on the planet and he knew it would make David get mad but...fuck it. 

“You ever thought about dating someone that wasn’t a girl?” Tobias asked. “Like...It would open up your options a whole lot more,”

David whirled on Tobias. “What the fuck!? No!” David shook his head. “I’m not gonna date a boy! My parents definitely wouldn’t approve of that…”

“Your parents are pretty shitty so–” Tobias felt a hand push him backward. He landed on the ground with a thump and looked up at David. There was clear anger in his brown eyes. Tobias knew he’d gone too far and felt guilt stab his heart. 

“What the fuck do you know about parents even?” David snapped. “Both of yours are dead, and your mom must’ve fucked some faerie so clearly she wasn’t faithful. At least my parents are both Shadowhunters!”

Now it was Tobias’s turn to get mad. He picked himself up from the ground and before David even had a time to react, punched him square in the face. David staggered back a little bit. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Tobias yelled. 

“You’re only mad cause I’m right!” David spat out some blood. Tobias must’ve hit him harder than he’d thought he had. He didn't care though. He didn’t care at all. 

“Just stay out of my fucking way.” David glared at Tobias and then walked away. “Stay out of it, faerie.”

Tobias clenched his fists together. His whole body wanted him to run after David and punch him again. He hated him, he hated him, he hated him. Tobias closed his eyes shut tight to stop the tears from spilling out but it didn’t help. Tobias didn’t hate David. 

Everything he said had been right. 


	14. Chapter 13: Runing Ceremony

Lien had expected a warmer welcome once she was done with her bedrest and returned to the world of the living, but things just...went back to being normal for the most part. Except that Tony was still shy around her and David shot her just a few more evil looks. (Tobias had told her he punched David, which was an action she very much approved of and would like everyone to repeat) Everyone was too busy preparing for Tony’s runing ceremony at the end of the week, she supposed.

Well. Kasey was different too. Or maybe Lien was different in the vicinity of Kasey. Whatever. She wasn’t unbearably annoying all of the time anymore, and Lien would take that. She in general tried not to think about how Kasey had kissed her on the forehead or whatever feelings either of them had about that incident. 

Anyway, far too quickly, the day of Tony’s runing rolled around. From the instant the Ashkeys woke up, the halls were buzzing with activity. Tony was pacing around nervously half the time, and excitedly chattering to Tobias, Tabi or David the rest of the time. Even David’s parents were here, and seemed to be happy about it. Lien sat out in the main hall and watched, waiting for one of the Silent Brothers to arrive. She wanted to go up to talk among the Ashkeys, congratulate Tony on his incoming ceremony but...Tony was still scared of her. She didn’t want him to be nervous or scared (well, more than usual) on this important day.

“Hey,” Lien heard Kasey’s voice behind her, and jumped a little, before turning to face Kasey. “How you doing?” Kasey said, settling down beside Lien.

“Fine,” Lien said. “Took you long enough to get here.”

“I’m fashionably late,” Kasey said. “And anyway, brother what’s-his-face hasn’t even shown up.”

Lien rolled her eyes and Kasey chuckled. But it was nice to have someone near her, she supposed. She didn’t want to be the odd one out and she couldn’t ask Tobias to stay with her instead of focusing on his brother. Lien wished she could be a part of the Ashkey family, like she had been for years, but...it was better not to think about it, because that wouldn’t fix it. wouldn’t make Tony trust her again.

Luckily, there was a knock at the door before she could get too deep in her own head about that. Tony ran over to the doors, yelling, before Tabi intercepted him and answered the door herself.

A single silent brother stepped through the doorway. Tony jumped back at the sight of him: a tall, cloaked figure, whose stitched-shut mouth was visible under its hood. Of course Tony was alarmed. He quickly scrambled to stand behind Tabi, who patted him on the head.

“It’s okay, Tony,” She said. “He’s not going to hurt you. The Silent Brothers are healers. He’s here to help with your runing.” She turned toward the Silent Brother. “Welcome to the Mountainside Institute, Brother…”

_ Samuhel,  _ The Silent Brother said with his telepathy. Tony jumped yet again.  _ Thank you for the warm welcome, Tabitha Ashkey.  _

“It’s an honor to have you here,” Tabi smiled and dipped her head,but Lien could tell her smile was too wide. All of the Ashkeys never thought of Tabitha as anyone’s name but their mother’s. Tabi was just Tabi, and always had been. 

_ Anthony Vladamir Ashkey _ . Brother Samuhel turned his attention to toward Tony, who tried to stand up straight, though he was still kind of shaking.  _ The time of your runing is upon you. Shall we commence? _

“Y-yeah,” Tony stammered, his voice a squeak. Samuhel nodded at him and proceeded toward the center of the hall. Everyone followed behind him, Tabi pushing her younger brother to walk ahead. Lien eyed the others in the group. Tobias smiled at her, while David didn’t even glance back, looking at Brother Samuhel with an unreadable expression. Kasey was still walking behind her. 

When they reached the center of the room, Brother Samuhel said  _ Stop _ and held up one of his bony, ancient hands. Everyone stopped, except for Tony, who he motioned to come forward. Tony hesitated, but then followed. 

_ Your hand, _ Brother Samuhel said, and Tony gingerly reached his left hand out, almost flinching when Samuhel took it and produced his stele.  _ Do you swear by the Angel Raziel to protect the world, both your Nephilim brothers and sisters as well as those who are unaware, from demons and all supernatural threats, with your life if necessary?  _

Tony just nodded, before he realized he probably should speak. “Yes.” He said.

_ Do you swear to uphold The Law? To serve your duties? To remain devout? _

“Yes,” Tony said, more sure this time. “I swear.”

_ Then, Anthony Ashkey, I bestow you with your first rune. _ Samuhel pressed his stele to the back of Tony’s hand. Tony winced as Samuhel drew the point of the stele across his skin. Lien remembered her ceremony, the sting of the first rune. It had hurt, but a Shadowhunter should never be a stranger to pain. Finally the voyance rune was complete, and Brother Samuhel drew back. Tony stared at the newly drawn rune with wide eyes, before his face broke into a smile. 

The rest of the ceremony went by quickly, and by the end Tony was grinning. When it was over, he ran back to the Ashkeys. Tobias high-fived him with one hand, and Tabi ruffled his hair. 

“You were very brave,” Tabi murmured to him. Lien realized with a pang this was the happiest she’d seen Tony in a very, very long time. Everyone was in high spirits, in fact, for once David was wearing a smile that looked genuine instead of smug.

Brother Samuhel just dipped his head and began walking toward the door, and David broke away from the group to follow. Lien strode after him, hopefully to stop him in case he decided to assault a Silent Brother or do something else stupid like that. He glanced back at her and grumbled, but kept moving. Eventually Samuhel stopped at the door, and David grabbed at his robes. 

“Hey,” He whispered. “What the fuck?”

_ Young man,  _ Samuhel said.  _ That is not appropriate language.  _ Samuhel turned around to face David and Lien. Lien gave him a look that hopefully communicated the idea of “I’m not with this idiot and I do not approve of even a single one of his actions ever.”  _ As well, I do not know what you are talking about.  _

“The–the–” David motioned with hands. “The weird almost Silent City under these mountains? The one that...Lien here went down to? What the fuck?”

Samuhel seemed almost surprised, as much as someone could express surprise without functional facial features.  _ The failed wing? It’s here? _

“Yes,” David said. “And whatever’s in there got inside  _ her _ head, or so she says. What’s up with that?”

Lien felt the sickening sensation of a Silent Brother poking around in her head.  _ Don’t out me. Don’t out me. Don’t out me. _ She thought as hard as she could which, probably drew more attention to the whole trans thing, really. She recalled the brief things from the ghost’s memory–a wailing child–the screaming–raw meat–quiet, quiet, quiet–and then the things she had done, her hands around Tony’s throat, her teeth in the ugly wound on her arm. And then, thankfully, Samuhel drew back.

_ That is...concerning, _ he said, straightening his robes. 

“So was there actually a thing in her head? Or is she just a crazy child-strangler?” David asked. Lien glared at him.

_ Yes, there was...something, _ Samuhel said.  _ I do not quite know what. But something bad.  _

“Could you ask your...er, brothers,” Lien spoke for the first time. “When you get back. Could you ask them about that?”

_ I will see what I can do. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, David Hawkcross and Lien Onyxpoint. _ Lien felt a stupid rush of relief that he hadn’t used her deadname.  _ I must be going now. _

He proceeded out the doors, and quickly the silence was broken by Tony running up behind them, beaming with joy. 

“David, will you teach me how to use a bow?” He said. “I wanna be an archer! When can I start training?” He looked over at Tabi, who was smiling a tired smile. “Can I start training tomorrow? Can David teach me?”

“He’ll have to learn to put on a silence rune himself before I let him teach my little brother,” Tobias said. David glanced at him, and Tobias’s expression shifted into one Lien couldn’t read. 

“Now come on,” Tabi said. “Let’s eat dinner. We’ve had a stressful day.”

Everyone headed toward the dining hall, and Lien followed, but Kasey stayed where she was. 

“Goldencoat?” She said. 

“I’ll sit this one out,” Kasey said. “I have some business I need to attend to.” Her face was serious for once, in sharp contrast to everyone else’s demeanor. She noticed Lien and tried to smile, but there was a sadness in her eyes. “You go on ahead, okay?”

Lien nodded, and then walked away.

* * *

Later that week, all four of them–Lien, Tobias, Kasey, and David–went out on a sweeping patrol of the territory. Stepping outside and breathing in the forest air was like a powerful medicine to Lien, and she felt better than she had the entire time she was on bedrest. She was outside and doing her job. The air was starting to get chillier, heading into autumn soon. She couldn’t wait to see all the leaves change.

Lien walked ahead of the others, with Tobias close behind. She tried not to glance back and see whatever the hell kind of looks David and Tobias were giving each other. Who knew what was happening between those two? They’d seem to be getting along, but then refuse to talk to each other, until one of them would talk again and it would go back and forth, which was a problem, because Lien needed to know where they stood with each other so she could plan accordingly. She didn’t want a repeat of the Dahak incident, but didn’t want to babysit David herself unless she had to. Tobias was better at getting him to shut up, anyway. 

And she really could use someone to get David Fucking Hawkcross to shut up right at that moment.

“So,” He was saying. “Why the hell aren’t we patrolling up there?” He motioned to a clump of trees high up on a hill. The place where Tobias and Lien had moved Arion up to after the whole Bear Hole incident. 

“It’s really high up,” Lien said.

“You’ve already dragged our asses around the whole mountain,” David said. “Including on that little cliff thing where you’re inches away from falling to your death.”

“It’s no problem unless you’re a baby,” Lien couldn’t help responding. 

“Excuse me if I don’t want to fall off a cliff,” David grumbled. “But that’s not the point. Why aren’t we looking over there? The trees are thick. What if there’s a demon or something hiding there?”

“Do you hear that?” Lien motioned to the air. The birds were chirping, the wind was rustling through the trees, small animals were scampering through the underbrush. “There’s no demon.”

“How can you tell?” The four of them had stopped walking now. Kasey was side-eyeing David, while Tobias kept looking over at Lien.  _ It’s fine, _ she tried to think at him.  _ I’ll make sure he doesn’t find Arion. _

“The animals are making noise, David. If you knew anything about anything–”

“I heard Tobias talking over there the other day.” 

Everyone was quiet after that, and David glared at Tobias.

“There’s something over there,” he said. “And if it’s something dangerous we need to know. Especially if Faerie Boy over here is talking to it! What if it’s–I don’t know, a demon or an evil warlock, or Sebastian Morgenstern come back to life for a second time? How do we know Tobias isn’t betraying us after all–”

“Tobias’s dad is over there,” Kasey said quickly. “It’s just his dad. He’s fine.”

“What,” Tobias said. “The fuck. Kasey.” 

“I’m sorry! It’s just–listen, when you found him I was behind you, since, Lien said I could join the patrol if I got dressed quick enough–”

“What the actual fuck?” Tobias said again, looking more confused than anything else. 

“I can gut David,” Lien said. “That was always an option.”

“His  _ dad _ ?” David said. “But didn’t his dad die in the–” He blinked. “Wait, wait, his faerie dad?”

Tobias ran his hand through his hair, and stared at the ground.

“Kasey,” Lien said. “Why would you say that?”

“I won’t tell anyone else, okay?” She stammered. “I just–he’s not hurting anyone–”

“That’s a faerie!” David exclaimed. “That’s a  _ faerie _ on our land! Who knows what he could be doing?”

“He’s harmless!” Kasey held up her hands, as if that could calm down anyone here. David was fuming, while Tobias was very still and very quiet, the way he got when things were seriously wrong, and Lien didn’t know how she looked to everyone but she was absolutely willing to kill David and/or Kasey, so she definitely wasn’t calm. “I just–he’s basically a twig and he’s really good natured from what I’ve seen–”

“What you’ve seen?” Tobias said. 

“I check up on him! To make sure he’s not actually doing anything bad! He just kinda cries a lot!”

“I’m going back to the institute.” David turned around. “I’m gonna tell my parents you are harboring a faerie in secret.” He started walking away, and then Tobias ran after him and grabbed him by the arm. David tensed up, but didn’t turn around or push Tobias away.

“David,” Tobias said. “David, my parents are dead–I–if you lost your dad how would you feel? If you lost your parents wouldn’t you want to–”

“My parents died in the war,” Kasey said, her voice monotone. “I was 14. I would do anything to get them back. I would raise hell. If I found out one of my family members was still alive...I wouldn’t ever let them go. Even if it was against the law.” 

“David, please,” Tobias said. His voice was quiet, and it hurt to hear. “Please.” 

David took a deep breath, and then turned around. Lien expected him to look angry, or at least cold, but he just looked like he was thinking, his brows furrowed. He looked down at Tobias, and then his expression softened. He sighed.

“Okay,” he said. “I won’t tell. I swear. But–but if he does anything to hurt the institute, I’ll kill him myself.”

Tobias laughed in relief and stepped back from David. Lien placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s...go back now,” Lien said.

“Yeah, let’s,” Tobias said, still laughing a little. Lien looked at Kasey and she smiled. David just started back to the institute, and they followed behind him. Lien hung back, next to Kasey.

“I don’t like it,” she said. “That you know.”

“It’s fine,” Kasey said. “I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me, Lien. You really can.” 

Lien grumbled something non-descript, and then Kasey spoke up again, loud enough that the whole group could hear.

“Okay, now that this is all out there,” She said. “Can I just say? Tobias? Your dad is really hot.”

“Kasey!” Tobias exclaimed. “I didn’t need to know you thought that!”  

“Just saying!” Kasey gave a stupid grin. “And don’t worry Tobias, you’re not the only one cursed with a hot parent. David’s mom? Smoking.”

“What the hell?” David said, looking over his shoulder. “That’s gross.” 

“...I’m forced to agree with Kasey,” Lien mumbled. “Sorry, David.” 

“Ugh,” David said.

“Don’t worry,” Tobias said. “I don’t even like girls, and your dad isn’t my type, so. I have no say in this.” 

“Great,” David said. “Real reassuring.” But he was smiling again, that genuine smile. 


	15. Chapter 14: Kidnapped

Tobias  _ had _ let David start to train Tony. With one big rule, Tobias or Tabi had to be in the room while he did it. It also seemed that this day everyone wanted to train, because Lien and Kasey joined them as well. Since the reveal of Arion to the rest of the teens in the institute, tensions had eased a lot. Tobias and David weren’t even squabling that much anymore. They still were, though. Just not as  _ much _ . 

David was now teaching Tony the proper way to hold a bow. Tabi had given Tobias very specific instructions to make sure David didn’t let Tony have anything that would actually be able to hurt him. Tony had been disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to try to shoot anything. 

“It’s alright Tony,” Tobias said, mussing up his younger brother’s hair. “Your 13th birthday is coming up soon. Maybe Tabi will let you try then.”

“You really think so?” Tony said, eyes full of hope. 

“Yeah of course she would, she’s not that big a stick in the mud.” Tobias said. Out of the corner of his eye Tobias saw David smirk.

“Hey Tobias,” David said. “How about you show off to your brother and try to do the tightrope?”

“How about you do, David?” Tobias scratched his head. “If I remember right, last time you tried it, you fell tool.”

“That’s just cause my dad barged in!” David defended. Tony laughed, and Tobias felt good, actually. He felt good about his brother being happy and the fact that he and David were actually joking around with each other. 

Now Tobias was just waiting for something to happen that split a gap between David and him once again. 

“Hey,” Lien walked up to the group. “I’m alright with Tony taking his baby steps to become a Shadowhunter, but can I at least pull out my spear to train with that while he’s learning his bow?”

“Sorry, Lien,” Tobias said. Tobias had noticed how Tony had tensed up a little as Lien approached. “Just orders from Tabi, ya know?”

“I-I can leave for now,” Tony said. “David helped me out a little bit! so...Thanks, David.” Tony gave back the bow to David, and maybe a little too quickly scampered out of the room. Lien watched Tony close the door behind him and sigh. 

“Sorry,” she said. 

“It’s not your fault, Lien,” Tobias said. 

Lien nodded, but she didn’t seem entirely convinced. 

“At least we can use our weapons now,” Kasey said moving over to the weapon’s rack. There was a moment of awkward kinda silence. Tobias looked at David and he was scratching the back of his neck. After what seemed like a moment longer of deliberation he went over to Kasey, and tried to lean against the rack, which was a terrible idea, because there were sharp weapons on it. David stumbled for a second and then something in a kinda quiet voice that Tobias couldn’t hear. Kasey just seemed confused. 

“Tobias,” Lien said. She gripped his shoulder. “Tobias go over and stop them,”

“What, why? They’re just having a conversation.”

“Tobias you weren’t there when David flirted with me, but I guarantee that’s what he’s doing right now.” She gripped his shoulder tighter. “Tobias I refused to have this straight bullshit happen in front of me.”

Good to know that David had a look when he tried to flirt. At least that was some bit of knowledge Tobias learned today. 

“Why can’t you do it?” 

“You’re way better at dealing with David–”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“You get him to shut up easier!” Lien said, and then pushed Tobias in the direction of the two. “So! Get him to shut up!”

Tobias sighed and walked over to David and Kasey. 

“–gonna help you lie to yourself,” Kasey finished saying as Tobias walked over. Without a word Tobias grabbed David by the back of the shirt and started dragging him away. 

“Hey!” David shouted. 

“Let’s go talk, David. I gotta ask you about Tony’s training, or something. I don’t know.” Tobias replied, pushing David out the door and into the hallway. David stumbled for a second and then whirled around on Tobias. He was about to yell at Tobias when Tobias just held up a hand. “Before you say anything this wasn’t actually my idea. It was Lien’s.”

David shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair. “If it was Lien’s idea then why did she tell you to come talk to me?”

“Because I shut you up easier, apparently. Now,” Tobias sighed. “Let’s just talk, you down for that?”

“I’d rather train,” David grumbled. 

“Like that’d do you any good,” Tobias whispered, and thanked god that David didn’t seem to hear it. 

“What’s Lien’s problem with me even?” David said. “You’re her  _ parabatai _ , so you gotta know something.”

“She just doesn’t like you,” Tobias said honestly. Lien was very impatient with idiots, and oh boy howdy was David an idiot. 

“Goddamn,” David groaned. He fell back against the door. “I know her parents died in the war but she doesn’t have to have a stick up her–”

“What?” Tobias interrupted. 

“She told me her parents died in the Dark War. You’re her  _ parabatai _ , you should know that,” David clicked his tongue. “And you call me stupid.”

Tobias felt confusion and anger rise up in him. Lien hadn’t lost her parents, she hadn’t. Tobias knew that as a fact. She’d ran away from them, she’d moved with the Ashkeys when they moved to this institute. Why would she have told David that her parents were dead? Why?

“Tobias?” David said. It had dawned on Tobias that he hadn’t spoken in at least a minute, and David was looking at him worriedly. “You okay?”

“I need...I need to go talk to Lien,” He tried to sound like he was alright. He knew his voice had cracked a little bit and he cursed himself. 

David didn’t say anything, just watched Tobias carefully as he opened the training hall door. Tobias saw Lien and Kasey talking together, Kasey with her usual happy chatter and Lien seemed to be actually listening to her. 

“Lien,” Tobias called to her in the same voice as before, except he was more aware now that he sounded angry. But he didn’t care all that much. “I wanna talk to you for a second.”

* * *

Tobias led Lien to another room near the training hall. He wasn’t sure how loud he would get, and he didn’t wanna have David or Kasey hear. Tobias combed a hand through his hair and tapped his foot. He needed to calm down. He would just have Lien explain herself. She would just have to explain herself.

“Tobes,” Lien spoke finally. “You okay? Did David do something stupid? Cause I really will gut him–”

“It wasn’t David,” He snapped. He needed to calm down. He took a few breaths. “Why did you tell David that your parents died in the Dark War?”

“That’s what you’re worked up about?” Lien asked. 

“Yes Lien! Your parents aren’t dead!” Tobias tried to keep from raising his voice. 

“I needed David to stop flirting with me. You’d do the same,” Lien replied. 

“No!” Tobias was yelling and he didn’t even care. “No I wouldn’t, actually! I’m not gonna lie about the death of my parents cause, oops, they are actually fucking dead,”

“You need to relax a little, Tobias–” Lien said. 

“You don’t know what it’s like to lose a parent!” Tobias said. “Both of your parents are alive and they love you. So I really don’t like that you’d use a parent’s death as a quick way to shut someone up!”

Lien was starting to lose her patience as well. She scowled at Tobias. 

“Why do you even care about them?” Lien said through gritted teeth. “They were both so shitty to each other! You had grow up in a house with two parents that hated each other, so why do you even care so much?”

“Because they were  _ my parents. _ Not someone I would just run away from when it became convient!”

“That’s not why I ran away and you know it, Tobias!” They were both yelling now. Tobias could feel Lien’s hurt in his  _ parabatai _ connection,and he was sure she could feel his too. He hated himself for being glad she could feel it. 

“Do you even care about other people’s feelings?” Lien practically spat. “Are you even loyal at all? Or are you just like your mom?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean,” Lien said, she’d lowered her voice slightly but she was still yelling. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Tobias clenched his hands into fists and dug his fingernails into his palms. His instincts told him to punch her like he did David but he couldn’t do that. He still felt the stab through his heart from the  _ parabatai _ connection. He’d hurt her in another way, and that’s all he cared about. 

They stayed like that for a little longer, just staring at each other, feeling each other’s emotional pain. Tobias moved first and pushed passed Lien. “I’m leaving” he said quietly. 

“Gonna go cry to your dad? Your accepting dad that loves you?” Lien said. “Fucking wish I had one of those.”

Tobias didn’t say anything else. He didn’t feel like saying anything else. As he opened the door of the room, David and Kasey were waiting in the hallways. Based on their expressions he guessed they’d heard the whole argument. 

“You...alright?” David attempted to reach a hand out to Tobias, but he swatted it away. He didn’t wanna deal with David. He didn’t wanna deal with anyone. He honestly did just want to cry to Arion. 

David looked shocked about having his hand swatted away. Tobias wanted to remark that now he knows what it felt like, but he didn’t. He just kept walking, kept walking through the rest of the Institute and out the door. 

The sun was setting over the horizon, the last light of day disappearing. He started to make his way up the mountain. He hadn’t changed into his gear or anything and the air chilled him in his light t-shirt. He should’ve brought a fucking jacket or something, he was stupid. He was so stupid. 

He couldn’t keep calm and not hurt his  _ parabatai _ , he still couldn’t talk to Tony well enough, he couldn’t even tell David that he fucking loved him. 

The idea of joining the Wild Hunt crossed his mind again. He’d leave his whole life behind. His whole family. Tobias knew he just wasn’t thinking straight, but at this moment it seemed like a very good prospect. 

Tobias traverse the trees near where Arion was still thinking about this. If he did join the Wild Hunt he’d be able to learn about Arion more. Maybe he wouldn’t feel like a stranger to Tobias anymore. Maybe he would actually be able to call Arion ‘dad.’

He almost walked into the clearing that held Arion when he heard Arion’s voice talking to someone else. Tobias hid behind a tree and looked through the foliage into the clearing. Arion was standing there along with another man it seemed like, but this man had dark red skin and two horns protruding out of his head, and as the man moved Tobias saw a tail swish behind him. 

“Are you done playing house, Arion?” The tiefling said. He squinted his mismatched eyes. “It’s been  _ months _ . Surely you’d have finished your business by now?”

Arion shook his head. “Lysander, please. Can you just keep the Wild Hunt off me for a little more time?”

“You know I can’t do that. Sylvan’s already on my hide about you. If he finds out I’m keeping you hidden he’d kill me, and then you.” Lysander said. He shook his head and put his hands on Arion’s shoulders. “Please, my love. Just come back.”

Tobias decided that it wasn’t the best time to be here. He slowly started to back away from the clearly, but tripped on tree root and fell on his back. He cursed himself and scrambled to get up, causing even more noise and cursing himself again. Goddamn, he really couldn’t do anything right today. 

As he finally managed to stand up, a clawed hand gripped the back of his shirt and threw him into the clearing. 

“Shadowhunter!” Lysander spat the word. “What the fuck are you doing out here?” Lysander picked Tobias back up by the neck and started to squeeze. Tobias clawed at Lysander’s hand, but to no avail.

“Lysander stop!” Said Arion. “He’s...He’s my son.”

“ _ What _ ???” Lysander still had a death grip on Tobias’s neck and it was getting harder to breath. “You have a Shadowhunter kid? When were you going to tell me this?”

“I was going to! You’re choking him, though!” Arion grabbed Lysander’s hand, and slowly he let Tobias down. He swallowed big gulps of air. He needed to leave, he needed to go tell someone in the Institute,  _ something _ . Tobias tried to shuffle away, but Lysander grabbed his arm and tugged him back. 

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” Lysander said. “We’re bringing him to Sylvan.”

“Sylvan will want him dead, Lysander,” Arion whispered. He looked sympathetically at Tobias. “Sylvan hates Shadowhunters. And he’s my son.”

“So?” Lysander spoke like it was simple knowledge. “He’s not you so why should I care?”


	16. Chapter 15: Flashback

One of Lien’s earliest memories was of her mother’s hair. Her mom had dark, rowan-colored hair that went down to the end of her back. She had to comb it for a long time every day. 

It took a long time, almost too long, for Lien to figure she was trans. She remembered, though, how even as a small child, how acutely she wanted to have hair like her mom’s. She would wonder whether her mom would help her brush her hair,  _ when _ she had hair like that–before, remembering that boys aren’t supposed to have long hair.

Every time she had let her hair grow out for more than a few months her dad would needle her into getting it cut again. He’d said it was a weakness in battle, that a demon or Downworlder could grab it. And when Lien replied to that saying that her mom did fine with it, her father would just tell her it wasn’t befitting for a boy. For a man.

So Lien never told them. Of course she never told them. She knew they wouldn’t approve; she’d heard them talk about Tobias. Tobias, or even Tobias’s parents, never knew what Lien’s family actually thought of them. They hadn’t even wanted Lien and Tobias to be  _ parabatai _ . They supported the Cold Peace, too, and were generally unhappy with the growing alliances between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. So that’s why Lien left. Because they were bigots, or cruel, or awful to her  _ parabatai. _

Of course, that wasn’t actually why. It was because she loved her parents, loved her mom. And Lien couldn’t stand to tell her mother that she was actually her daughter, not her son, because she couldn’t stand the thought of her mother, her fiery, beautiful mother who she admired, telling her that she actually wasn’t. Confirming to Lien that she’d never help her brush her hair. Better to stay in uncertainty. Better to not know.

So that’s why Lien Onyxpoint left her family on that day four years ago and never gave any sign as to where she was going.

* * *

After the fight, Lien fumed in her room for a little while. Paced around. Considered punching the wall, but Tobias would feel that and she didn’t want him to think he’d actually hurt her, even if he definitely had. He didn’t get it. His parents knew! Hell, Arion didn’t even know his deadname. Lien  _ wished _ she had a parent like that.

And maybe, yeah, maybe it wasn’t right that she lied about them being dead but that didn’t actually matter at all. David would never meet her parents. Probably Lien wouldn’t see them again either so what did it matter? They were functionally dead, even if they technically were alive out there, still fighting demons and living their lives and maybe even worrying where their child was.

Their son. 

When Tobias didn’t return that night, David knocked on her door.

“Hey,” he said. “Hey, let me in.”

“Go away!” Lien said.

“No, seriously. I need your help.” He paused. “Tobias still isn’t back.”

“So what? He’s fine,” Lien turned her back to the door, even though David couldn’t see her, obviously. But it made her feel better. “He knows these woods like the back of his hand. He’ll probably come back tomorrow.”

“Everyone’s worried! Tabi’s worried. Tony’s worried. But my parents don’t want to look and they don’t want to send Tabi to look either.”

“And what does this have to do with me?” 

“I’m gonna go look,” David said. She could see his shadow under the door, and he shifted a little, like he was leaning against the door. “My parents don’t want me to but I’m going to go look. I thought you might want to help since...you’re his  _ parabatai. _ ”

Lien paused. She couldn’t expect David to go on a rescue mission on his own, the guy always forgot his silence rune. Even if he finally had enough backbone to stand up to his parents or whatever that didn’t mean he could do this on his own. Especially since he didn’t know the forest well. So she really should go.

Except that there was no way Tobias was gonna actually want to see her. Considering she said all those things about his mom, which, admittedly, she did very much regret saying. Fat lot of good that did. Anyway, if Tobias was actually in trouble he probably wouldn’t like to see someone who had just basically called his dead mother a whore. And also he was probably fine but…

“I’m not going with,” she said finally. “But...I can give you something of his to track him with. Just to...to make sure he’s not in any actual trouble?” He couldn't be in any actual danger could he? If he’d gotten hurt...Lien would feel it.

“Okay.” David’s voice was strained. 

Lien shuffled around her room, trying to find something Tobias owned that he might have left here. Eventually, under the books she’d left on her nightstand, she found a comb that she was pretty sure was Tobias’s. At least, there was some pale blond hair in the tines, as well as Lien’s own.

Sometimes if Tobias and Lien needed to talk, if Lien needed to calm down or Tobias needed to be distracted, they’d brush each other’s hair. Tobias’s wasn’t as long as hers, she’d been growing it out for four years, but…

“Take this,” Lien said, sliding it under the door.

“What, you’re not gonna hand it to me?” David protested. 

“Shut up, it’s easier this way.”

“I have to get on the ground to pick it up! Come on!”

“I don’t have to see your stupid face, though,” Lien said. She heard David sigh, and then saw his shadow move as he grabbed the comb off the floor.

“Alright, well,” He said. “I’m going out. You’ll cover for me if my parents ask, right?”

“Sure, sure,” Lien said. “Now get going.”

David said nothing else, just shuffled off with no fanfare. She was sure he and Tobias would be back soon anyway. Tobias was just probably hanging out in the woods with his dad. His dad wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him. His dad killed a Dahak demon on his own, it was fine.

Tobias would be back soon and then she could apologize to him and things would hopefully go back to normal. Everything was fine. 

Lien grumbled and grabbed a book off her shelf. She settled down on her bed and started reading, hoping it could distract her from the weird, irrational sense of dread she was feeling. 


	17. Chapter 16: The Wild Hunt

The next few minutes had been a blur for Tobias. He remembered Lysander having a death grip on his wrist and dragging him onto an obsidian black horse that, after everyone had boarded, flew through the sky. He saw the mountains and the expansive forests fly by. Before Tobias even had a second to appreciate the view, they descended again and Lysander practically threw Tobias off of the horse. 

And that was where Tobias was now, in another clearing surrounded by many more faeries than he had ever seen in his entire life. All of them staring at him with contempt and hatred in their eyes. 

“Don’t let them bother you,” Arion said, helping Tobias back onto his feet. Lysander was talking to another faerie, one with hair that looked like tree leaves.

“Where’s Sylvan?” He said. “I’m back with Arion,”

“And a half-breed I see,” The faerie said back, his voice much lower than Tobias had been expecting. “Hopefully you’ll be able to give a good explanation for that.”

“I have it under control,” Lysander said. “I just need to see him,”

“See me for what?” a very large faerie came into the clearing out of the woods. Behind him he dragged a stag with an arrow lodged through its neck. There were two things that struck Tobias about this man. First, just how large he was. Lysander was taller than him but this faerie was definitely stronger. 

And secondly that he had hooves for feet. 

“Sylvan,” Lysander spoke with respect. “I’ve retrieved Arion, and his son.” There were a few murmurs through the faeries, and Sylvan dropped the stag. Tobias gulped. Him getting away was impossible now. 

Sylvan trudged over to Tobias and looked down at him with his red and brown eyes. He continued to shoot daggers at Tobias and he just stood there awkwardly until Arion nudged him. 

“He’s the leader,” Arion said. “You need to show respect,”

“I thought Gwyn was the leader of the Wild Hunt?” Tobas whispered.

“We’re just another section of the Wild Hunt,” Arion spoke.

Tobias nodded slowly, and got down on his knees. He didn’t know what else to do to show someone respect.

Apparently, it was not the right thing to do as Sylvan laughed and grabbed him by the hair and dragged him back up. 

“Look at that boys!” He motioned to the rest of the faeries. “I got a Shadowhunter to lower their pride and kneel to me!” Laughter spread through the rest of the hunt and Tobias felt humiliated even more than he had on his knees. 

Lysander scowled at Tobias over Sylvan’s shoulder. “Sylvan, what are we going to do with him?”

Sylvan stopped laughing. “Kill him obviously.”

“No!” Tobias was surprised the words didn’t come from his own mouth, but Arion next to him. “He’s my son, and he’s still part faerie.”

“Yes but,” Sylvan got into Arion’s face now. “He still looks like a Shadowhunter, and still acts like a Shadowhunter. He may look like us, but he is not.” A terrible smile spread across Sylvan face. “Besides, maybe I’ll be good to for the Nephilim to see their own kind treated like how they treat us Downworlders for once.”

“Let’s just all kill him!” Lysander said. “We can all stab him and then leave his body on the steps of the Institute?” That garnered a few cheers from the Hunt. 

Tobias felt his stomach drop and took a step back. Arion looked pale and about to throw up. 

Sylvan seemed about ready to accept that offer when Arion chirped up. “There’s...There’s a pit. It’s a failed Shadowhunter building, I’m pretty sure. There’s... _ something _ down there. Something that can make a Shadowhunter go mad.”

Tobias looked at Arion. He looked sick that he was suggesting it, but he looked back at Tobias with pity in his eyes. “If...If we put Tobias down there, and he goes mad...We can give him back to the other Shadowhunters, and terrorize more.”

Lysander pushed passed Sylvan and stood in front of Arion “You’re just trying to protect him!”

“Tobias himself told me that his friend strangled his younger brother,” Arion said back. “It...It would damage the Shadowhunters even more to see a family member or friend hurt them.”

Sylvan seemed to actually consider it. Tobias could tell Arion was attempting to appeal to some deep seated hatred that Sylvan had against Shadowhunters. Arion trying to say that his plan would physically hurt more Shadowhunters than just killing him on the spot. Tobias didn’t want to do either of those options, but at least with Arion’s plan he had a higher chance of living. 

Another cruel smile appeared on Sylvan’s face. “Ya know what Arion? We’ll do your plan.”

“It’s a way to use my son,” Arion said. “We can hurt more Shadowhunters this way.” His wording was very specific, Tobias realized. Faeries couldn’t lie, and he was just carefully choosing his words to not give away that he didn’t wanna do it. 

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Arion,” Sylvan warned. “You still did run away, and you will be punished, after we deal with this half-breed.”

* * *

Things went very quickly after that again: faeries grabbing and shouting at Tobias, someone who wasn’t Arion hoisting him onto a white horse, and then being grabbed again and thrown down into the pit. Tobias really didn’t appreciate how much he was being thrown around that day.

Two faeries came down into the pit with him, and ordered him to go deeper into the Almost Silent City. Tobias shook himself off and after a sharp sword prodded him in the back, he started his descent. He didn’t know how far he was supposed to go, so he just went to the bottom of the stairs. He could still see the yellow light of the faeries’ lanterns. 

He was surrounded by darkness, and thinking off nothing else to do he took a seat and leaned against the wall. It was weird being down here, with the ashes of his ancestors in the walls and the floors. Tobias remembered Lien saying that something terrible had happened here. Something with killing and meat. Did his ancestors have to watch what had happened, knowing that they couldn’t do anything about it?

Tobias scratched his head. He could hear the skittering of rodents and vermin but there was something else. Something he couldn’t hear all that well. It sounded like it was farther into the unfinished city. Tobias shook his head. It was nothing, he was just freaking himself out by thinking about what had happened to Lien. It wouldn’t happen to him. Maybe that... _ thing _ that was in Lien was the only one. 

He just needed to sit here and wait for rescue. Lien, David, or Tabi would had to have noticed him being gone by now. Had to have come looking for him. 

But would they? Would there be a rescue? What if he was going to die down here? Everyone else had.

Tobias shook his head. What? What everyone else? It was only him down here, and the very clearly alive faeries at the top of the stairs. He was just being stupid. This place was just getting the better of him. 

Hunger struck him. He hadn’t eaten anything since before they started training that day. There was another thing that was stupid of him. Another thing that would get him killed. He would die of hunger. They all would. 

That noise Tobias heard before was getting louder. He could hear it more clearly now. It sounded like Lien’s screaming. Lien screaming. Screaming. 

He was going to die, no one was going to rescue him. No rescue would come. He would wither down here with the rest of them. No one was going to save him. He would die, he would die, he would–

There was a loud smack from the top of the stairs. Followed the faeries barking some orders at someone. Tobias turned his head to see who was coming down the stairs, and to Tobias’s surprise it was David fucking Hawkcross. 

Tobias ran a hand through his hair. Oh cause this is  _ exactly _ what he needed right now. 

“Hey, Tobias,” David started as he got to the bottom. “What the fuck?” 

The noise in Tobias’s head started to disappear, or at least moved to the back of his head. He stood up and faced David. “What’re you doing here?”

“I tried to find you!” David yelled. One of the Faerie guards snapped down at them to keep quiet. David continued but quieter. “I was trying to find you, and then I find that the forest is crawling with faeries!”

“Aw David you were looking for me,” Tobias said. “You do care.”

“Stop joking!” David snapped. “I’m gonna get you out of here, and then we can tell the institute and call for backup.”

“How you planning on doing that while you’re not wearing a silence rune?”

“They...They took my stele before I could apply one,” David wasn’t a good liar. “That’s not the point, I’m gonna get you out of here before these faeries do something bad to you.”

David grabbed Tobias’s arm. Tobias hated that, in even these terrible circumstances, he still got embarrassed when David touched him. 

“Why do you care so much, David?” Tobias asked. It was an honest question that he wanted the answer to. “You still seem to hate me for the most part, so why not let me die with the faeries.”

“I don’t…” David began and then stopped. He took a deep breath. “I don’t... _ hate _ you, Tobias.”

“It was that hard to say that, huh?” Tobias said. 

“Listen, it’s just…” David paused again. “I love my parents but you were right. They are shitty about you and Downworlders in general. And I just...I can’t hate you, okay?”

Tobias nodded. “If it’s any consolation I don’t hate you either.”

“Really?” David looked at Tobias surprised. David scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. 

Tobias nudged David in the shoulder. “So what’s your plan for getting out of here then? Because I’d like to get out before one of us says something stupid and we hate each other again.” David laughed and then pointed up towards the faeries at the top of the stairs. 

“When I got thrown down here they were talking about changing shifts for watching you. If we watch them carefully and go between shifts we can hop out of the hole and sneak back to the institute.” David explained. 

“Oh wow you actually have a plan,” Tobias said. 

“You just said we shouldn’t say something stupid and have us hate each other.”

“I’m just teasing,” Tobias defended. “Besides it’s better than my plan of waiting for a rescue so, we can try.”

Tobias and David waited at the bottom of the stairs, waited for the slightest of movements from the guards up above. Soon enough the guards’ lights went out and after a few seconds of waiting to make sure they had gone, David motioned for Tobias to move up the stairs. They were both making a considerable amount of noise, but with David’s stele being confiscated there wasn’t much either of them could do about it. Tobias just had to pray that the faeries couldn’t hear them. 

When they got to the top of the stairs, Tobias looked through the hole in the ceiling. The stairs in the sky were shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. David nudged him. 

“Alright, I’m gonna boost you up,” said David, and cupped his hands together as a foot hold for Tobias. Tobias took a step onto David’s hands and then tried to balance himself on his shoulders. He felt David put two hands on Tobias’s ankles to help steady him, but god it wasn’t helping. Tobias was very wobbly and he wasn’t even tall enough to reach the top of the hole. Dread started to spread through him as he thought of faeries returning to find two dumb kids trying to balance on each other to reach out of a hole. 

David jerked for a moment, and Tobias stumbled on David’s shoulder and, after Tobias was pretty sure he kicked David in the face, they both fell. Tobias fell on top of David and he heard David groan from presumingly having Tobias’s full weight fall on him. 

“Ah sorry, David,” Tobias said, starting to pick himself off of David’s chest. He looked down at David. And David just looked back at him. 

“Uhhh,” David said. “You gonna get off of me?”

Tobias knew he’d just said not even 10 minutes ago about not making the other mad, and he was going to make David mad. 

“Oh, fuck it,” Tobias said before leaning down and kissing David fucking Hawkcross. Tobias had expected David to push him away, to be disgusted, to say to him ‘I should’ve never come look for you.’ But instead David put his arms around Tobias’s neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. 

Tobias didn’t know what the fuck was happening, but he wasn’t gonna question it. David, admittedly, wasn’t a very good kisser, but Tobias wasn’t gonna think about that. He’d wanted to do this  _ for months _ , and now he actually was. Under the worst possible circumstances. 

Tobias pulled away, and had intended to say something, but David just pulled him back into another kiss. And for the short time Tobias had pulled away he saw that David was crying a little bit, tears threatening to fall at the corner of his eyes. Tears of happiness ,Tobias hoped. He really hoped he wasn’t hurting David. 

This time David was the one to break the kiss, and they both stared at each other again, breathing hard. A few tears had fallen down David’s face and Tobias brushed them away. He then smiled at David. 

“So that’s what it means when a Hawkcross says ‘I don’t hate you,’ huh?” Tobias joked. 

David laughed. “Shut up.”

“I gotta remember next time that ‘I don’t hate you’ means actually ‘I want your tongue in my mouth,”

David pushed Tobias away but he was still laughing. Tobias was laughing too. Something he thought was gonna make David hate him forever ended up, a lot better than he had expected. Way better than expected. 

Tobias wanted to lean down and kiss David again, when there was a noise above them. They both shot their gazes up and there were two new faeries that blotted out the starry sky. They glared down at both of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that David’s face had lit up red. 

One of the faeries Tobias recognized as the one with tree leaves for hair. “Sylvan wants to see you,” His different colored eyes darted between David and Tobias. “Both of you.”

* * *

Tobias and David were dragged out of the pit very unceremoniously. David tried desperately to dry the tears on his face with his sleeve, and Tobias had the urge to tell him not to worry.

The faeries pushed them into the woods. Only small beams of moonlight shining down through the treetops. There were other faeries in the foliage, and a whole lot staring at Tobias and laughing. The only stares David got were ones of disdain. 

Sylvan’s massive figure came into view in front of them, Lysander and Arion standing on either side of him. He motioned with his hand and the faerie standing behind David locked his arm around David’s neck. He yelped, and Tobias wanted to go to him but was pushed forward by the tree leaves faerie. 

“What a good day this has been for the Hunt,” Sylvan said, motioning to both David and Tobias. “Two Shadowhunters have come to my little group, which means something glorious.” He gave Lysander a pat on the shoulder. “We get to use both Lysander and Arion’s ideas today.”

Arion started. “What?”

“The Nephilim are emotional beings,” Sylvan stated. “Can you imagine how they’ll feel getting both the corpse of their own on their doorstep, as well as one of their own going mad?” Sylvan now turned to Arion. “And what better punishment for someone that betrayed their own people than to watch their own son die.”

Arion blanched. 

“It’s better this way Arion,” Lysander said his voice slightly softer. 

“I will make one modification to your punishment Lysander,” Sylvan said. “Stabbing would kill the half-breed much too quickly, so we’re going to whip him.”

Tobias heard David struggle with the faerie behind him, but with no runes Tobias knew David didn’t stand a chance of getting away. Tobias wouldn’t either. He felt tree leaves take his wrists and tie them together with some kind of vine with sharp thorns poking out of them. He winced slightly. 

He was shoved down to his knees, and he didn’t struggle. He’d accepted that this was how he was going to die. There weren’t any more plans that they could do, there were too many faeries for two unruned, unarmed Shadowhunters to fight. Tobias just had to pray that if they killed him, they would leave David alone. 

He didn’t even get to say that he loved him. 

A faerie from the trees came down and handed Sylvan a whip and then took a slow walk behind Tobias. Tobias just had to brace himself, that all he could do. 

He heard the whip crack before the many spurs of the whip hit his back, tearing through his shirt and nicking his skin slightly. He dipped his head down and clenched his teeth. He didn’t wanna make any noise, not for any of them. He peaked his eyes open slightly and saw Arion’s face. He looked horrified.

The whip cracked again and this time it did a lot more damage. It tore his back open, and over the laughter of the faeries he could’ve sworn he’d heard someone call his name. Whether it was David or Arion, he couldn’t tell. 

There was sweat beating down his face and he felt blood trickle down his back. The whip cracked again, and again. And Tobias bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from screaming out in pain. 

This went on for minutes, until Tobias fell forward and laid on the ground. His back felt like it was on fire, and he had to have been bleeding heavily. His breath was ragged and labored. Tobias peeked his eyes open, and saw two hooves in from of him. One hoove moved and planted itself right on the side of Tobias’s head, digging his face into the ground. 

Sylvan above him laughed. “I think we should finally end this, how about you boys?” There were cheers from the crowd, and there was another shill yell of his name. This time Tobias could make out David’s voice. He tried to look at him and saw tears streaming down David’s face. Tobias wanted to wipe them away like he had before. 

Tobias felt the hoove on his head push harder down. He shut his eyes tight, prepared to die, when Arion said something.

“You...You said that you wanted him to have a slow death,” His voice was shaky and desperate. “Crushing his head...that’s quick. If you let him bleed out–”

“Arion!” Lysander said. “Stop questioning Sylvan’s decisions–”

“No you know what? He’s right,” Sylvan said laughing. “I forgot this was Arion’s punishment as well.”

The pressure of the hoof on Tobias’s head subsided, and he was dragged up onto his feet by Sylvan. Tobias’s legs were about to give out when an arm was swung over his shoulder. It was David, he was free from the faerie’s grasp. Tobias tried to smile at David.

* * *

Tobias, David, and Arion were quickly escorted back to the pit and they were all corralled back into the Almost Silent City. Tobias kept coming in and out of consciousness. Arion had been ordered to be with them as well. To watch for the exact moment that Tobias died.

Once they were down at the bottom of the steps, David tried his best to cover up Tobias’s back wounds and undo the thorns around his wrists. Tobias could barely focus on anything. He was aware of David taking off Tobias’s ragged and bloody shirt to get the full scope of Tobias’s back. He was also aware of David wrapping his jacket around Tobias’s back. 

“I-I just wish i had my stele,” David said. “I’d...I’d be able to do something…”

Arion said something but the words seemed to blend together. Tobias was so tired. 

Something was placed against his skin, something cold and it burned. Tobias’s vision came into a little clearer view and his head was filled with less fog. But worse of all the pain of his back caught back up to him.

“It’s not working,” David said, looking worried. Arion was leaned down next to him. David was now holding a stele, one that Arion must’ve had Tobias guessed. “It’s not...fuck, dammit.”

Tobias weakly reached out a hand and grabbed David’s own hand. “Lien...she’d b–be able to help,”

“Cause of your  _ parabatai _ bond,” David said. “But how do I get Lien here?”

Tobias smiled at David again before the searing pain overtook him and he lost consciousness. 


	18. Chapter 17: The Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a fair amount of explicit gore. Read with caution.

Lien was trying to sleep, keyword  _ trying _ . She’d been lying still in bed for about an hour after she finished her book, and she was sure that any moment now she’d finally fall asleep. Tobias would probably be back in the morning, she just needed to get to sleep. At this point she thought she’d rather have more nightmares about the Almost Silent City than stay awake any longer. 

And she was so sure she was about to be asleep, about to drift into sweet unconsciousness when she felt something  _ wrong _ .

Lien sat upright in bed. She was feeling pain through her  _ parabatai _ connection and at first she thought it was just more emotional pain, and wondered briefly what the hell David had done, but then it got worse and worse and worse until her whole body hurt.

She’d never felt this before, at least not this much, but she knew what it meant. 

Tobias was hurt. He was badly, badly hurt. And he was away from Lien.

The only person whose healing runes really worked on him.

Lien dashed out of the door to her room as quickly as she could, and made a beeline toward Kasey’s room. As far as she could tell, everyone was asleep. She didn’t want to wake up Tabi or Tony, didn’t want them to worry, even though she was pretty sure they’d like to know. She just...didn’t want to admit to them that this was her fault, that whatever happened to Tobias was one hundred percent her own fault. If she could just get him to safety quickly maybe then…

“Kasey!” Lien slammed the door open. Kasey startled awake and rubbed her eyes.

“Lien?” She said, blinking. She seemed to notice Lien’s expression, and her eyebrows upturned in concern. “Lien, what’s wrong?”

“Tobias is hurt.” Lien tried to keep her voice to a whisper. “He’s hurt and I don’t know where he is and I’m the only one who can heal him and I need your help.” 

“Okay,” Kasey said. She sprang out of bed. “I’m on it. Let me get my gear on.”

“I-I can find something of Tobias’s,” Lien said. “F-for tracking and all.” She’d probably have to raid his room, but if that meant she could find him in time to save his life, then it was definitely worth it.

“Sounds good.” Kasey zipped past Lien, out the door. “Meet me out front.”

* * *

“Okay, okay, so,” Kasey said. They were walking through the woods. Lien could feel the autumn chill setting in. Kasey looked again at the balled-up Lord Huron shirt she was tracking Tobias with. “So good news, I know where he is. Bad news, it’s across the forest and...in the Almost Silent City.”

“Okay.”

Kasey paused. “I figured you’d have more of a reaction than that, since…”

“If I need to go there to save Tobias’s life, I will.” Lien wasn’t looking forward to returning there at all. There was nothing she wanted to do less than ever, ever go back into those awful halls under the earth, ever risk hearing those screams again. But… “That’s...that’s what being a  _ parabatai _ is about. I’d put my hand in a fire to keep Tobias safe.”

“Like that Will Herondale guy?” Kasey said.

“Who?” Lien said. All she really knew about the Herondales was that apparently Clary Fairchild’s boyfriend was one. If what she’d heard of Jace was anything to go by, they were apparently massive assholes. 

“Never mind,” Kasey said. “Listen. The quickest way to get to where he is...is through that place we went through earlier. And...and listen, he’s being held prisoner. I can’t see a ton of what’s going on but…”

“Okay. Okay, okay.” Lien took a deep breath, “I know how to get there from here. Come on.” She started walking in the direction of it, desperately trying not to think about anything but getting to Tobias. 

“Lien?” Kasey followed behind her, a bit slowly. “You really sure you’re okay doing this?”

“I’m not,” Lien said. “I’m definitely not okay but we have to. So I’m gonna.” 

“Lien,” Kasey said, softer this time. “I…I could just go alone–”

“No, you couldn’t. Probably even the two of us isn’t enough. And I need to rune Tobias. So we’re going.” 

The rest of the walk flew by in silence, at least from the two of them. The forest was still buzzing with noise, night insects chirping. It almost felt worse than silence to Lien, the world continuing while something was terribly, terribly wrong.  _ Please let me get to Tobias in time _ , she thought.  _ Please let him be okay.  _ She knew she would feel it if he died. Her  _ parabatai  _ rune would burn and fade away. So he wasn’t dead. Not yet. 

Before long they were at the Bear Hole. The pathway down into the darkness was obsidian-black. Lien remembered with a chill the little hands she had seen reaching out to her from that darkness. But there weren’t any now. She took a deep breath and steeled herself to step down into there.

“I can lead, if you want,” Kasey said behind her. Lien shook her head.

“Come on,” She said, and walked down the stairs. After a few moments in darkness, Kasey lit a witchlight, and they began walking again.

Lien tried as hard as she could not to think about where she was. Not to think about all the Shadowhunters that had died here. Not to think about that many-armed thing in her head that had strangled its own son. Tried to drown out that wailing, that far-off wailing she could still fucking hear, tried not to remember the fear she’d felt the first time she’d been down here, the fear she still felt now. What if it happened again? What if she died down here? What if–

“Lien,” Kasey said. Her voice was soft and calm. “Lien, it’s okay.”

“I’m fine,” Lien said. She could hear the shake in her own voice. 

“I meant what I said,” Kasey continued. “The first time we were here. I have your back, Lien. It’s–it’s not bad to let other people help you.” 

“So you think I’m weak?”

“No,” Kasey sighed. “I just...even strong people need help sometimes.”

Lien didn’t say anything. She could here Kasey’s footsteps behind her, coming up to stand beside her. She gazed at the pale glow of the witchlight, trying to avoid looking at anything else, at the cracked walls, at the skeletons clawing at them. She was scared, she was so scared, and then she felt something.

Kasey’s hand brushed against hers, and before Lien had time to think about it, she grabbed it. It was warm in her own, solid and alive. After a moment, Kasey clasped her hand around Lien’s own. It was...nice, Lien thought.

“I’m here,” Kasey whispered. “Don’t worry.”

They kept walking like that, hand-in-hand until light that wasn’t from Kasey’s witchlight started filtering through.

Until Lien heard screaming that wasn’t just in her own head.

* * *

On the ground was a faerie–Lien couldn’t quite tell what kind–and he was ripped open, his guts spilling out onto the cracked floor. And he was still screaming, and another faerie, one with leafy hair, had his hands in the gaping hole that used to be the other’s stomach, and he was grabbing fat fistfuls of red, shoving them into his mouth and chewing while the one on the ground screamed, and screamed, and screamed. Lien remembered the way those Dahak demons had been eating the deer–but this wasn’t like that, this wasn’t a demon, this was a  _ person _ and–

The leafy-haired faerie raised his gaze to Lien, a chunk of viscera dangling out of his mouth, and his eyes were wide and vacant and hungry. Lien took a step back. The faerie let the red chunk fall from its mouth, and Lien sickened as she saw the faerie dying on the ground scrabble at it and at his spilled entrails as if he were trying to scoop them back in. 

“ _ Ramiel,” _ Kasey whispered beside her, and lit up a seraph blade, letting go of Lien’s hand and springing forward. Leaf-hair lunged toward her, sinking its bloodstained jaws into her arm, and Lien stopped being frozen in terror and rushed into the fray herself.

Kasey kicked her attacker away and he fell back for an instant, long enough for Lien to skewer him with her spear. She expected him to die, or at least be in too much pain to continue, but he grabbed onto the spear and began pulling himself toward Lien, driving the spear further through his back. He didn’t even seen to notice the pain. 

Lien’s instinct was to pull the spear out, move away from the faerie, but against all logic, he held tight to the spear in him, and Lien couldn’t get it out. She had to act quickly or else she was going to end up like the poor bastard on the floor. She couldn’t drop her spear, she didn’t know whether there were others in the area, she didn’t want to be defenseless with her weapon stuck inside...what she hoped would be a corpse soon.

A brilliant flash of light cut through the side of the leaf-haired faerie’s throat, and Lien realized with relief that it was Kasey’s seraph blade. The faerie gurgled and then fell limp. The one on the floor was still screaming, and Lien looked over her shoulder to see Kasey kneeling behind him and slitting his throat.

“Kasey,” Lien said. She stared at the corpse on the end of her spear. She needed to get her spear out of that, but she didn’t want to touch it. She wasn’t used to seeing dead bodies. Demons just faded away. “Are you alright? How bad is that bite on your arm?”

“It won’t kill me.” Kasey stood up again. Her voice was remarkably steady. “Hang on. Let me help you there.”

Kasey took the body of the leaf-haired faerie by the shoulders and pulled him back down Lien’s spear until he fell on the ground. His eyes were still open and vacant, but clouded rather than sharp, and he was half-decapitated from Kasey’s strike with the seraph blade. Lien felt like she was going to puke.

But she didn’t have time to dwell on that, because there was more screaming, getting closer. And Lien realized with a jolt of horror that there were more, and that they were possessed like she had been and that  _ Tobias was in the middle of all of this. _

She raced down the hall, knowing that it was a supremely bad idea, but she had to get to Tobias before anything got to him. Or David. It wasn’t like she cared about or liked David at all, but he didn’t deserve to get eaten alive. Especially since he’d gone out to look for Tobias while Lien had just sulked in her room. At least she could hear the footsteps of Kasey behind her. She supposed Goldencoat really  _ did _ have her back.

Eventually they stepped into a cavern full of moonlight. Lien looked across it and saw several figures huddled together on one side of it. Relief washed over her when she recognized one as Tobias, but he was clearly bleeding badly, and in between them and her was another possessed faerie, a selkie. Its arms were torn, ragged strips of skin hanging off, like something had been gnawing on it, and it was progressing toward Tobias and the others.

Lien was about to run forward with her spear again, hoping that she could kill it quickly, when one of Kasey’s throwing knives struck it in the back of the head and it fell. As soon as it hit the ground, Lien dashed over to the others.

“Lien?” David said. “Thank the angel.”

“Let me see Tobias,” She said. She knelt on the ground next to them.

“I’m sorry,” Arion stammered. “I’m sorry, this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t–”

“Just shut up and let me see him.” Lien put a hand on Tobias’s shoulder and turned him over. He had a jacket–presumably David’s, since David was just in a t-shirt at the moment– wrapped around his back, but peeking out behind it were angry red gashes.

“They whipped him,” Arion said. “And they were going to kill him right then but–”

Tobias appeared to still be unconscious. Lien rolled back one of his sleeves and drew a healing rune on him, and then another, and another. She prayed that would be enough to keep him alive until they could get him back to the institute and get him some actual medical care.

“I’m sorry,” Arion said again. His voice was cracking. “I’m so sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lien said. “This is my fault too.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Arion asked. 

“He should be.” The runes were starting to take effect thankfully, and his bleeding was slowing. He was still unconscious though. “David?”

“Hmm?” David was still looking at Tobias, a mixture of worry and relief on his face.

“Sorry,” Lien said. “I should have gone with you. You were right.” She expected David to make some quip, or yell at her or, at least be smug, but he just kind of nodded.

Lien looked around and saw Kasey was still standing a ways off, gazing at the huddle around Tobias almost wistfully. When Lien met her eyes, she looked away. 

“Guys,” She said. “Uh, I know how to get out of here but…”

“But?”

“There’s kind of a smorgasbord of cannibalism going on down that pathway. So we’re gonna have to fight our way out.” She paused. “Sooner rather than later. I don’t know when the possessed ones are gonna be done.” 

Lien would have said something about it, but at that moment, Tobias weakly sat up and looked at her.

“Li?” he murmured.

“Tobias! How are you feeling?” Lien was so thankful just to hear his voice again.

“Like someone took a cheese grater to my back,” He drawled. “And also I’m gonna need a new binder.”

“Guys? We kinda need to get out of here now?” Kasey said again. David sprang up and reached for his bow, before realizing he didn’t have it. Kasey tossed him a Seraph blade.

“Arion?” Lien said. “Can you carry Tobias?”

“Of course,” Arion replied. He put his hand behind Tobias’s head and lifted his legs, hoisting his son up until he was resting comfortably in Arion’s arms. David was already heading toward the battlefield, and Lien turned to look. Before she stood up, however, she looked at Tobias.

“Hey,” she said. “What the hell happened?”

“Well, David kissed me,” Tobias said with a tired smirk. “But you’re probably gonna want the boring stuff, aren’t you?”

* * *

The pathway out of the cavern was chaos, dozens of faeries fighting and biting and eating each other. For a moment all Lien could focus on were the bloody mouths, some with sharp teeth, others unnervingly human-like. She saw flashes again of the Shadowhunters under the mountain–the taste of blood in her mouth, a young boy’s ribcage gleaming bloody red in the witchlight–and she shook her head to drive those thoughts away. She had to focus on getting everyone out of here safe.

Kasey actually took off before her, trying to slice a pathway through. Again she was grabbed and this time her shoulder was bitten, and as she stumbled, another one of the possessed was on her. Lien felt a pulse of rage and ran toward the second possessed, spearing it in the throat and dragging it away from Kasey, who whirled on her other attacker and stabbed it up through the jaw with her seraph blade.

“You need some healing runes?” Lien said to her, rushing to stand at her back. 

“I’m fine,” Kasey gasped. “After the battle.”

“It’s okay if you need help,” Lien said. “Isn’t that what you said to me earlier?” Kasey laughed a little at that, and stood up.

“Watch my back then, Onyxpoint,” Kasey said. 

“Damn, I was gonna keep calling you Kasey,” Lien said. “But back to Goldencoat it is.”

“Quit flirting!” David yelled as he ran past them. “Focus on not getting killed!”

They proceeded down the cavern that way, Kasey fighting back to back with Lien. Lien had to be careful not to spear through anyone lest they get stuck and weigh her down. Someone shot a golden arrow at her, which she managed to deflect, and saw a kelpie–who didn’t appear to be possessed–holding David’s bow. David was making a beeline for it, already bleeding from a gash on his head. And in the middle of it all was Arion, who was just running for his life while clutching Tobias close.

A clawed hand caught Lien by the hair and dragged her away from Kasey. She fumbled with her spear, but whatever it was that grabbed her was too close, too overpowering for her to get a good shot at it. She wished she’d brought some seraph blades, which was gonna be a pretty stupid last thought. Bloodied teeth lashed out toward her face, but then a golden arrow struck through the massive thing’s head and it fell away, revealing a very smug David with his bow in hand.

“Killstealer,” Lien murmured. David just smirked wider and then dashed off. 

Eventually Lien saw the opening of the cave, and dashed toward it. She just wanted out of this place, out of this massive tomb under the earth, out of the screaming and blood and viscera and hunger. And she was about to step outside when she looked behind her and saw something that chilled her to the bone. 

A huge satyr with wild eyes was grabbing at Arion, who was doing his best to turn away from it and protect Tobias. But the faerie was so much stronger than him and was clawing at him, leaving ugly scratches and trying to pry Tobias out of his arms. Tobias was clawing at the satyr, but it wasn’t actually doing anything. 

David notched and shot an arrow toward the satyr’s head, but it just grazed him and bounced against the walls of the cave. David reached back for another arrow, but he was out. He froze, terrified as the satyr’s attacks continued, its mouth opening to bite. Lien started to run back down but she knew she couldn’t get back in time, couldn’t stop it.

In a last effort, Arion pushed the satyr away and turned himself so his back was facing toward the satyr, shielding Tobias. The satyr’s teeth sank into Arion’s shoulder with a sickening crunch, but Arion just held tightly onto Tobias, trying to tear himself away. Lien had to get down there, had to get the satyr to let go, to get Tobias out safely, but there were so many enemies between her and them.

“Arion!” A voice cut through the noise of the battlefield, and a tiefling man rushed forward, towards Arion and the satyr, and drove his knife into the satyr’s back, slicing downward.

The satry released its grip on Arion with a cry of pain, and Arion sprinted away, bleeding heavily and clutching Tobias close. 

“Arion! Are you alright, my love?” The tiefling called as he followed them. But Arion didn’t say anything. 

Arion rushed out the entrance to the cavern, and Lien gladly followed him into the cool morning air.

* * *

All of them flopped down on the grass outside the cavern, including the strange tiefling man. Lien looked around, making sure everyone was in one piece, and glad to see that her friends, while injured, seemed like they could recover. Arion shakily set Tobias down, and David rushed over and hugged him tight.

“Ow,” Tobias said, but he was smiling. Lien could not believe that her own  _ parabatai _ had apparently made out with David Fucking Hawkcross, but she was so relieved that he was alive that she couldn’t be mad. She felt Kasey put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” Kasey said. “You weren’t so bad back there.”

“Goldencoat. You aren’t entirely annoying and useless.”

“Wow, thanks!” Kasey was beaming. She had a nice smile. Lien didn’t see how she’d been so bothered by it before. The sun was rising.

And then she heard the tiefling shout Arion’s name. 

Arion was leaned against a tree, and Lien saw for the first time how bad the wound on his shoulder was. That satyr had ripped out a whole chunk, and Arion was bleeding very badly, red soaking through his clothes and dripping onto the grass. The tiefling was trying to put pressure on the wound, but it wasn’t helping. 

“Arion?” Tobias said. David let him go as he rushed to his father’s side. Lien reached for her stele and then realized that it wouldn’t do any good. She couldn’t rune him.

“My boy,” Arion breathed out, cracking his eyes open to look at Tobias. “I’m glad...I’m glad you’re here.” 

“Shut up,” The tiefling said. “Arion, you’re going to be okay. You have to be okay.”

“Lysander,” Arion said. “It’s alright like this.” The tiefling, Lysander didn’t seem to know what to say. He started to cry. Tobias was just looking at Arion in shock, like he couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Tobias,” Arion said. “Are you...are you alright?”

“Y-yeah,” Tobias said. “I’m gonna be okay. You saved me...dad.”

“Hey…” Arion said. “You finally called me dad. That’s...that’s all I could really ask for, isn’t it?”

“Don’t go.” Tobias’s voice was soft and quiet. “I just got you back, don’t go, dad.” 

“I’ll tell your mother you’re doing well.” Arion turned his head toward Tobias and smiled. And then he was gone. 

The clearing was silent for a moment. Tobias’s eyes welled with tears and he put a hand over his mouth. Then Lysander spoke.

“This is your fault!” He snarled, standing up. “This is all your fault! He wouldn’t have left if you didn’t–”

“You get the hell away from him!” David shouted, running to get between Lysander and Tobias. Lysander brandished his knife again, and Lien rose to her feet too, readying her spear. Lysander looked at her, and David, and Kasey, and then at Arion’s body. He shook his head, tears streaming down his face, and ran off into the woods. Lien watched as he disappeared into the foliage. 

Tobias was sobbing now, and David got down beside him and hugged him again. Lien could feel through her  _ parabatai _ connection how much Tobias was hurting, and she wanted to go over and comfort him, but she somehow felt that wasn’t allowed, that she should just let Tobias be alone with his father and with David, who was whispering “It’s okay,” to him over and over. 

“I…” Kasey said. “I’m going back to the institute. I’ll fetch Tabi. She’ll know what to do.”

“I’ll go too,” Lien said. David nodded to the both of them and went back to comforting Tobias.

* * *

Kasey and Lien walked through the woods in mostly silence. Lien had so much she wanted to say. She needed to thank Kasey. She needed to apologize to Kasey, too. But she couldn’t make the words come out. She found she was crying. Just a few weeks ago she would have wanted to die at the thought of Kasey seeing her cry, but now she didn’t mind at all.

They arrived at the doors of the institute, and Lien was about to knock on the door when Kasey stopped Lien, grabbing her by the arm.

“Lien?” Kasey said. “Are you okay? It’s okay if you aren’t okay.”

“I’m fine,” Lien said. “It’s Tobias who got hurt, anyway.”

“Lien,” Kasey said. Softly again. And then she reached out and put a hand on Lien’s cheek. 

Lien’s heart beat hard. She knew what was going to happen, but somehow she still felt surprised when Kasey leaned forward and kissed her. Lien didn’t know what she was doing, didn’t know if she was allowed, but after a moment she put her arms around Kasey and pulled her in closer. Kasey’s hands were in her hair, on her back, and then Kasey drew back again. 

“Um,” Lien said. What were you supposed to say after getting kissed? Thanks? She was blushing up a storm and she knew it. “I…”

Kasey hugged her suddenly, and Lien realized that Kasey was crying now. 

“What’s wrong?” She said. “Am I...am I that bad at kissing? I haven’t really–”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Kasey said. She was still crying though. “N-nothing’s wrong at all. You’re perfect. I just…”

After a moment, Kasey composed herself and pulled back, wiping away her tears. Lien didn’t know what to do or what to say. She could still feel her own heartbeat.

“Well,” Kasey said. “Let’s go inside, then?” 

Kasey smiled at Lien as she opened the door, but this time Lien knew it was terribly, terribly fake. 


	19. Chapter 18: Visits

Tobias’s back still hurt. Jeremiah’s medicine had helped, but not completely. Jeremiah would be staying in the institute for the next few days, to keep track of Tobias’s status. He’d have to eat bitter painkillers, and constantly have his bandages changed the whole time. 

But Tobias’s back wasn’t the thing that was hurting the most. 

_ I’ll tell your mother you’re doing well.  _ Those were the last words his father had said to him. Were the last words his father would ever utter. And they were the words that refused to leave Tobias’s head. It was just a constant reminder that all his parents were dead. All three of them. And he’d only really accepted Arion as his dad on his deathbed. 

He half-wished Lysander had killed him. Maybe his dad would still be alive, maybe if he’d never existed the Ashkeys could have had a normal family. Tobias felt tears threaten the corners of his eyes and he just let them fall. All he could do was cry. He couldn’t change anything. 

There was a knock on the door, followed by a soft voice. 

“Tobias?” It was Tabi. “can I come in?”

Tobias very quickly used the blanket to dry his tears. His eyes still felt puffy and sore, but he couldn’t really do anything about that. 

“Yeah, come in,” He replied. 

The door creaked open slowly, and Tabi and Tony stood in the doorway. Tobias sat up on his elbows as they walked into the room, wincing as he moved his back. Tony hopped on top of the bed and on top of Tobias. 

“Ow, ow, ow, Tony.” Tobias winced. “I’m still hurt.”

Tony muttered a quick apology and then shuffled his way over to the side of Tobias so he wasn’t on top of him anymore. 

“I’m glad you’re alive,” Tony chirped, and then looked down at his hands. 

Tabi nodded. “You looked like a car hit you when we got you back here, it just...god Tobias, I was worried. If you died, I don’t know what–”

“Well, I’m not dead,” Tobias said.

“That’s not the point,” Tabi crossed her arms, her fingers seeming to dig into her arms. “We’re...we’re all the family we have left. All of us.”

“I’m only half you two’s family,” Tobias said. He didn’t look at Tabi when he said that. He could see her finger relax for a second, and then she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You are my brother,” She said firm. “One hundred percent. You’re as much of an Ashkey as Tony or me.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about your dad?” Tony asked out of the blue. It took Tobias aback for a second, and he scratched his head absentmindedly.

“I just…” Tobias couldn’t find the right words. “Don’t you hate dad...I mean Arion. Don’t you hate that he tore mom and dad apart?”

It took a moment before Tabi responded. “...I don’t hate him. Mom and dad already had problems before Arion. He just escalated them.” Tabi smiled at Tobias. “And besides, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have you as a little brother,”

Tears threatened Tobias’s eyes again. Tabi smiled wider and ruffled Tobias’s hair. He laughed. He hadn’t laughed in a while. The noise felt weird against his throat. Tony smiled too, and lunged at Tobias pulling him into a hug. 

“I love you Toby!” He said. “Please don’t get hurt like that again–”

“Tony, Tony, love you too, but you’re hurting me a lot,” Tobias said, but he was still laughing.

* * *

A short time after Tabi, and Tony left, Lien knocked on his door. He was starting to feel better from his siblings’ visit, and he still needed to apologize to Lien. He’d been...mean when they fought, he knew why she’d run away from her parents but...he, admittedly, was still jealous of her, both of her parents being alive.

“Hey,” Lien said. “You doing okay?”

Tobias nodded. “Hey, uh...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, I overreacted and if I hadn’t left then well…” His voice trailed off. Lien pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed. 

“Tobias, it’s fine,” she said. “I said shitty stuff too, and I’m not the one that looks like a cheesegrater scrapped over their back.”

Tobias laughed. “So, we’re good?”

“Not entirely,” Lien started, and Tobias looked at Lien worriedly. “Why the hell would you kiss David Fucking Hawkcross?”

Tobias blinked, and then proceeded to laugh so hard that his back started hurting and he winced. He flopped down against the bed. “So I’m guessing you don’t wanna hear the spicy details of making out with David.”

“No–”

“Okay so,” Tobias said. “I was the one that kissed David first right? And anyway there wasn’t any tongue in that one but–”

“Tobias, shut the fuck up,” Lien said but she was smiling. And also looking actually disgusted a little bit. “I will throw you back into the bear hole to deal with cannibal faeries.”

Tobias laughed again. “Who else am I gonna tell all about my great tongue wrestling?”

“Say ‘tongue’ again and I’ll cut out your own,” Lien glared at Tobias. He held up his hands defensively.

“Love you too, Lien,” Tobias said and gently punched her shoulder. “And like...thank you for rescuing me. I would’ve died if you hadn’t come,”

“Hey I wouldn't worry too much,” Lien said. “It’s what  _ parabatai _ do.”

Tobias smiled and snuggled down into his bed. Lien and him continued to talk like that, chatting about all kinds of dumb things, mostly leading to Lien insulting David in some way. Tobias just found it endearing, and by the time she left the hole in his heart that his father’s death had made was starting to close back up.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set, and the last light of day was glaring into Tobias’s eyes. Jeremiah had come in a few minutes earlier and given Tobias more pain killers. Tobias’s back felt numb and he started to close his eyes.

Then there was another knock at the door. Tobias’s eyes shot up and he told the person that they could come in. He’d expected Jeremiah, coming back in cause they’d forgot something in the room, but it was David that gingerly walked into the room. He seemed uncertain on anything and at his sides his hands were flexing in and out of fists. 

“Hey uh, sorry, if I woke you up,” He said, he wouldn’t look Tobias in the eyes, and focused on anything else in Tobias’s room. “I didn’t want my parents to see...,me coming in here I guess.”

“Cause that’s not ominous or anything,” Tobias said slowly sitting up. “In all seriousness though, I wanted to talk to you too.” He patted a spot at the end of Tobias’s bed and David shyly sat down. He rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I wanna talk about what happened,” David said.

“I kissed you, and then you kissed me back,” Tobias said. “That’s what happened.”

“I know! It’s just,” David sighed. He paused for a second and seemed to search for the right words. “It’s just, what does that make us, you know? I wanted to talk about that. I wanted...I wanted to a-ask if you’d be my boyfriend, Tobias.”

His words came out unconfident and scared, so much different than the David that had stolen Lien’s kill on that first day. So much different than the David that was a smug asshole to him. He seemed vulnerable, and his brown eyes were full of worry. 

“Of course, David,” Tobias said, cupping David’s face. “You think I kissed you just for the hell of it?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” David joked. Tobias laughed and drew David closer to kiss him. It was soft and over quick, but Tobias think he preferred those to the ones in the Almost Silent City. When Tobias pulled away David was blushing, and his eyes were wet again. 

“Please don’t cry every time we kiss, David,” Tobias teased. “I’ll still wipe them away every time, though.”

David chuckled and pulled Tobias in for another kiss. He put his arms around Tobias’s neck and Tobias could feel that David was shaking. He must’ve been very scared about doing this Tobias realized. Tobias wrapped his own arms around David’s neck and put his hands into his brown tangly hair. 

Tobias was very content to just stay like that, until there was a noise outside the room. David jolted back and broke the kiss. He’d also pushed Tobias and he winced. David muttered a quick apology. David stood up off of the bed. 

“I should, uh, I should go,” He was facing away from Tobias, but Tobias could see the top of David’s ears lighting up red. “Before I do though…” He cleared his throat. “Lien, Kasey and I we...dug a grave for Arion. W-when you’re well, you can visit. And now I really should leave–”

“Hey, wait,” Tobias reached out a hand and grabbed David’s arm. He tensed up slightly. “You could stay. I’d really like you to sleep in the same bed as me,”

“You’re badly hurt. I would just do more damage.”

“Your point?” Tobias said. 

David shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t want my parents to find out about this. About us. I don’t know how they would react–”

“No, no I understand,” Tobias said letting David’s hand go. “Your safety comes first.”

David smiled.

“Can I have one request,” Tobias asked. 

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me one more time,”

David blinked and then knelt down and kissed Tobias, it was more of a peck than anything else, but it still made David’s blush flare up again. 

“I love you, David Hawkcross,” Tobias said, finally saying the words that he’d wanted to tell David for weeks. 

“I–I,” David stammered. “I...me too, Tobias Ashkey. Get some good rest.”


	20. EPILOGUE

The excuse Jeremiah had given for Kasey to portal back with them was that they needed her help carrying their bags. Kasey knew better, though. She hoped they were at least not mad at her for how she’d handled...everything happening. There were plenty more dead in the city underground, anyway. It wasn’t a total waste.

They arrived back at Jeremiah’s house. Kasey’s heart was in her throat. The warlock hadn’t said anything to her since requesting she accompany them back, and while their wings were mostly green, she could see hints of a warm color around the edges.

Jeremiah unlocked the door, and the two stepped inside, Kasey placing what she was carrying on the floor. She looked back up at Jeremiah, who was still impassive.

“Walk with me, Kasey,” They said. They began walking at a brisk pace toward...their room. Kasey followed reluctantly. The only sound in the house was their footsteps. The lights weren’t even on yet. Eventually they reached their destination across the house. Jeremiah opened the door and beckoned for Kasey to enter.

She hated this room. Dark and musty and smelling of formaldehyde. Jeremiah flicked the lights on, illuminating the whole collection in a fluorescent glow.  It was chilly and Kasey pulled her coat around her. Somehow, Jeremiah never seemed affected by the temperature.

All around the room were diagrams, were preserved human body parts, were strange jars of powders, gleaming bottles of liquids. And of course, in the center was the little black coffin that held what remained of Jeremiah’s brother. Jeremiah finally turned to face Kasey.

“What was that all about?” They asked, raising one eyebrow. 

“I–it worked out,” Kasey stammered. “It worked out great! Lots of the fae are dead down there now and–and I know where Arion’s grave is, I helped David and Lien with it–”

“Miss Goldencoat,” They said. “I am asking about the girl. Lien.” Kasey’s gut twisted with anxiety. She didn’t want Lien to be involved in any of this at all, but it was too late to run, and Jeremiah needed her there now that they’d uncovered the Almost Silent City. 

“W-what about her?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” Jeremiah’s wings were the cold, grayish blue associated with disappointment. Kasey had learned to fear it. “You are...attached to her.”

“No, no,” Kasey said. “It’s nothing, okay? It’s nothing.”

“Do not lie to me, Kasey. What have I ever done to you that warrants you lying?”

Kasey swallowed. She didn’t want to talk about Lien with them. She didn’t want to lay out all her feelings, those feelings that had felt just her own, just one thing that was hers. But she had to. 

“I...I like her, okay?” She said. “That’s all. I kissed her. I swear, it won’t ever–”

“You know it will interfere,” Jeremiah said, their voice cold. “If I let you do this, someday you will choose that girl over me, over our cause. Would you really give up everything I’ve worked for,  _ we’ve _ worked for, for some girl?”

Kasey didn’t say anything. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Jeremiah was right.

“Don’t you want your parents back, Kasey?” Jeremiah said. “Your sister? Don’t you want to see them again?”

“Yes,” Kasey said. “Yes, I do.”

“Then you will do as I say.” Jeremiah’s icy blue gaze pierced through her. “Exactly as I say. You’ll stay away from Lien.”

“Okay.” Kasey felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs. But they were right. She couldn’t. And anyway, she didn’t deserve to have someone like Lien, either. She was going to hurt Lien either way. Maybe it’d be best to do something that’d make Lien hate her. Push her away. She’d be safer, in the long run. 

“It’ll all be worth it,” Jeremiah said. They walked over to Kasey and put a hand on her shoulder.  
“Of course,” Kasey said. “I’ll do what you tell me to.” 


End file.
